Mount 

Fuji 


SKETCH 


OF  THE 


North  Japan  Mission 

OF  THE 

REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 

NEW  YORK 
1901 


REV.  SAMUEL  R.  CROWN,  D.D. 


SKETCH 


OF  THE 

North  Japan  Mission 


3Y 

REV.  E.  ROTHESAY  MILLER 


Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  R,  C.  A. 

23  EAST  22D  STREET^  NEW  YORK. 

I 90s. 


Pr<ss  of 

Molt 

Alew  York. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/sketchofnorthjapOOmill 


THE  NORTH  JAPAN  MISSION  OF  THE 
REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA. 


When  our  first  missionaries  came  to  Japan,  in  1859,  the 
country  was  just  thrown  open  to  foreign  intercourse  ; but 
this  intercourse  was  enthusiastically  received  by  but  few, 
was  tolerated  by  the  more  enlightened,  and  was  detested 
by  the  greater  number  of  the  people.  Then,  too,  all 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  looked  upon  Christianity 
with  suspicion,  to  say  the  least;  while  most  thought  it 
corrupting  and  a menace  to  the  morals  of  the  country. 

After,  hotvever,  the  return  of  the  embassy  of  Prince 
Iwakura,  in  1873,  the  eyes  of  the  leading  statesmen  were 
opened  to  the  fact  that  Japan  was  far  behind  the  rest  of 
the  world  in  true  civilization,  and  they  set  themselves 
earnestly  to  remedy  this  defect  by  introducing  as  fast  as 
possible, — and  much  faster  than  they  could  assimilate — , 
the  fiowers  and  fruits  of  Western  civilization,  without 
caring  or  wishing  for  the  root  from  which  they  sprung. 

Even  before  the  return  of  the  embassy,  from  the  first  of 
January,  1873,  the  old  method  of  reckoning  time  was 
changed  and  the  Gregorian  calendar  adopted.  In  Feb- 
ruary the  old  edict  boards,  denouncing  Christianit5'  with 
other  crimes,  were  removed,  ostensibly  because  people 
were  supposed  to  know  what  they  contained,  but  tacitly 
it  was  understood  to  mean  that  hereafter  Cnristianity 
would  be  tolerated. 

From  that  time  the  progress  of  the  country  has  been 
beyond  all  precedent.  On  March  3,  1876,  Sundays  were 
made  government  holidays,  in  place  of  the  Ichiroku  (days 
of  the  month  in  which  the  numbers  1 and  6 entered). 
Railroads,  telegraphs,  and  in  time,  the  telephone  and 
electric  lights  have  been  introduced  ; the  army  and  navy 
have  been  entirely  reconstructed  and  put  on  a foreign 
footing  in  point  of  numbers  and  efficiency  ; a constitution 
has  been  given  to  the  people,  instead  of  the  Emperor 
ruling  autocratically  ; all  the  laws  have  been  codified  and 
put  into  operation  ; schools  have  been  remodelled  and  en- 
larged, the  higher  colleges  and  a university  established  ; 


6 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


schools  for  girls  have  been  inaugurated  and  scattered 
throughout  the  countiy  ; and  Anally,  after  weary  years  of 
planning,  hoping,  and  waiting,  Japan’s  autonomy  has 
been  acknowledged  in  treaties  of  reciprocity  with  the 
nations.  All  this  wonderful  programme  has  been  effec- 
ted in  the  short  space  of  forty  years.  It  seems  like  a 
dream,  and  we  are  often  in  doubt  whether  it  is  not  some- 
thing that  will  pass  as  quickly  as  it  has  appeared. 

Together  with  all  these  signs  of  outward  progress  has 
come  the  thirst  of  the  nation,  as  expressed  in  her  best 
minds,  for  the  learning  of  the  West  ; and,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  much  of  the  science  so  called  that  has  en- 
tered the  empire  has  been  accepted  without  its  being  as- 
similated, and  the  result  is  often  seen  in  the  mass  of 
crude  theories  and  half  truths  which  appear  in  books 
and  magazines.  Though  of  course  there  are  true 
scholars  who  have  studied  and  experimented  for  them- 
selves, till  they  stand  at  the  head  of  their  professions,  an 
honor  to  their  country. 

If  all  this  be  taken  into  consideration  it  will  be  seen 
that,  since  the  Reformed  Church  Mission  was  established 
In  Japan  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  advance  move- 
ment, and  has  been  carried  on  along  with  it,  and  has 
grown  with  it  and  taken  advantage  of  all  the  new  factors 
placed  ready  to  its  hands  for  spreading  its  inAuence  and 
strengthening  its  hold  upon  the  people,  the  history  of  the 
growth  of  the  one  cannot  well  be  separated  from  that  of 
the  other. 

And  so  it  has  been  that  the  slowness  of  the  early 
spread  of  Christianity  as  well  as  the  rapidity  of  its 
growth  in  after  years,  and  then  again  the  hindrances 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  history  of  the  mission  are 
all  intimately  connected  with  the  changes  which  have 
been  taking  place  at  the  same  time  in  the  country  itself, 
and  the  changes  through  which  the  country  has  passed 
are,  in  a large  measure,  the  explanation  for  the  Auctua- 
tions  through  which  the  work  of  the  mission  has  passed. 

Up  to  the  year  1S89  the  South  Japan  Mission  was  a con- 
stituent part  of  the  “ Japan  Mission,”  but  in  that  year  by 
direction  of  the  Board  it  became  a separate  or.ganization. 
For  its  work  and  workers  during  the  years  before  separ- 
ation reference  is  made  to  the  “ Sketch  of  the  South  Ja- 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


7 


pan  Mission,”  New  York,  1899.  With  these  words  Of  pre- 
face we  pass  on  to  the  history  of  the  mission. 

Although  all  mission  work  is  to  bring  souls  who  have 
not  known  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  a knowledge— a saving 
knovidedge — of  the  truth,  still  there  are  distinctly  recog- 
nized branches  of  this  work,  all  of  which,  however,  are 
interlaced  and  overlapping,  and  so  to  get  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  history  of  the  mission  as  a mission,  we  may 
do  well  to  look  at  the  rise  and  growth  of  these  different 
branches  of  the  work.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  at  the  outset  there  were  no  such  divisions  as  educa- 
tional, evangelistic,  literary,  and  medical.  In  fact  the 
last,  medical  work,  has  never  been  carried  on  by  our  mis- 
sion in  Japan  ; for  although  Dr.  Simmons  was  sent  out 
as  one  of  the  first  of  our  missionaries,  yet  he  left  the 
mission  the  next  year,  and  his  place  has  never  been 
filled.  And  although,  too,  at  the  very  opening  of  the 
country  there  was  a fine  opportunity  for  medical  work, 
and  some  of  the  missions  did  enter  into  it  with  zeal  and 
their  labors  have  been  crowned  with  success,  still  one  of 
the  first  steps  taken  by  the  government  was  the  es- 
tablishment of  medical  schools  conducted  by  foreign 
physicians,  so  that  now  in  every  large  town  and  in  many 
of  the  villages  there  are  doctors,  trained  in  Western 
science  and  medicine,  and  hospitals,  most  of  which  are 
provided  with  trained  nurses.  In  consequence  of  this 
state  of  things,  most  of  the  missions  who  are  working  in 
Japan  have  either  given  up  medical  work  or  have  not 
established  it. 

A very  obvious  reason  why  there  could  be  no  distinc- 
tion of  classes  of  mission  work  in  those  early  days  was 
that  the  great  aim  of  all  the  first  missionaries  was  to 
get  some  mastery  of  the  language,  which  stood  before 
them  like  a great  high  wall,  shutting  them  out  from  all 
intercourse  with  the  people  whom  they  had  come  to 
teach.  We  must  remember,  too,  that  this  grubbing  at 
the  roots  of  the  language  was,  in  those  early  days,  a 
literal  grubbing.  There  were  not  only  no  helps  to  study, 
but  those  early  missionaries  were  the  ones  who  had  to 
make  the  helps  for  those  who  were  to  come  after  them. 
Dr.  Hepburn’s  first  dictionary  was  an  outgrowth  of  a 
list  of  words  that  he  had  collected  for  his  own  use,  by 


JAPANESE  TEMPLE 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


9 


going-  out  every  day  with  note-book  in  hand  to  pick  up 
what  little  he  could  from  the  limited  intercourse  he  was 
allowed  with  those  about  him.  Dr.  Brown’s  grammar 
was  made  in  the  same  way.  And  one  may  imagine  what 
a toilsome  task  this  was,  where  the  gratulatiori  of  every 
little  advance  made  would  be  checked  by  the  knowledge 
that  what  was  discovered  to-day  might  have  to  be  redis- 
covered to-morrow  ; for  on  asking  what  was  the  name  of 
any  object,  an  exclamation  of  wonder  or  doubt  might  be 
taken  for  the  real  name,  and  it  might  be  weeks  before  the 
mistake  was  found  out. 

During  all  this  time  the  only  preaching  that  could  be 
done  by  the  missionaries  was  done  by  their  lives  ; they 
were  literally  to  win  their  way  by  their  “ manner  of 
life  ” “ worthy  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.”  (Phil.  1 ; 27.)  This 
was  the  time  to  exercise  patience,  humiiity,  and  kind- 
ness, for  it  was  difficult  to  get  either  servants  or 
teachers.  And  even  were  one  secured,  he  might  leave 
suddenly  without  any  warning,  being  frightened  at  what 
was  said  in  perfect  innocence,  or  made  to  leave  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  spies  or  semi-officials  by  whom  the  mis- 
sionaries were  surrounded. 

To  be  sure  a yery  little  evangelistic  work  was  done  by 
giving  away  some  Chinese  tracts,  which  could  be  read 
by  the  learned  classes  ; but  it  was  not  long  before  men 
were  afraid  to  be  seen  with  one  of  them,  and  even  afraid 
to  read  them  in  secret,  lest  they  be  discovered  and  so  lose 
their  position,  not  to  say  their  heads. 

After  the  language  was  in  a degree  mastered,  and  re- 
liable teachers  were  secured,  the  next  step  was  to  prepare 
a Christian  literature,  or  rather,  to  translate  portions  of 
the  Bible,  tracts,  and  hymns.  And  even  after  this  was 
done,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  have  them  printed.  All 
printing  at  that  time  was  made  from  wooden  blocks,  like 
■wood-cuts,  for  it  was  not  till  some  years  afterwards  that 
movable  types  were  introduced.  A man  named  Inaba  did 
the  first  printing  from  blocks,  but  he  did  it  secretly,  and 
brought  the  books  to  Dr.  Hepburn  by  night.  After  the 
printing  from  type  was  introduced  in  1878  the  Seishi 
Bunsha  Company  undertook  to  print  the  portions  of  the 
Bible,  and,  to  their  credit  and  honor  be  it  said,  they  con- 
tinued to  print  for  the  Bible  Societies  for  many  years. 


10  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

It  was  not  very  long  before  the  missionaries  found  that 
they  could  exercise  an  influence  by  teaching  young  men 
who  were  wiliing  to  come  to  them  for  the  study  of 
English.  In  this  way  classes  were  formed  in  which  were 
gathered  men  who,  in  after  years,  became  the  pioneers 
of  the  church,  and  who  are  now  the  backbone  of  the 
Christian  community,  while  others  of  them  are  dis- 
tinguished in  government  circles.  It  was  to  this  class  of 
persons  that  the  truths  of  Christianity  were  first  unfolded, 
and  among  them  were  the  first  converts  made  ; for  it  was 
ten  years  or  more  after  missionaries  first  came  to  Japan 
that  public  services  were  allowed,  and  even  then  they 
were  held  on  the  premises  of  the  missionaries  and  not  in 
the  native  town. 

In  speaking  of  the  early  history  of  missions  in  Japan, 
the  names  that  rise  naturally  to  the  lips  are  those  of  Drs. 
Brown,  Hepburn,  and  Verbeck.  As  it  has  been  well  said, 
“ There  is  in  truth  no  brighter  chapter  in  the  history  of 
“ America’s  intercourse  with  Japan  than  the  chapter 
“ which  tells  of  the  work  done  by  Drs.  Brown,  Hepburn, 
“ and  Verbeck.”  (“  Japan  Mail.”) 

The  Rev.  Sami.  R.  Brown,  D.  D.,  the  first  of  our  mis- 
sion to  land  on  the  shores  of  Japan,  (November  1,  1859,  in 
Kanagawa)  was  eminentiy  fitted  both  in  disposition  and 
training  for  the  position  he  held  during  those  early  days. 
He  was  above  all  else  a student  and  an  educator.  His 
mother,  Mrs.  Phoebe  Brown,  was  a remarkable  woman 
both  in  what  she  suffered  and  in  what  she  accomplished 
for  her  large  family  of  children.  She  impressed  her  char- 
acter on  her  son,  and  he,  inheriting  a strong  personality 
and  great  magnetism,  impressed  himself  in  turn  on  his 
pupiis. 

Dr.  Brown  was  a fine  musician,  a natural  linguist,  and 
a careful  student  of  the  Japanese  language. He  was  also 
a thorough  teacher,  and  would  not  tolerate  any  half- 
learned,  slipshod  recitations  in  his  classes.  Those  stu- 
dents who  followed  his  advice  and  thoroughly  mastered 
the  drudgery  of  the  rudiments  of  the  English  language 
were  the  ones  who  afterwards  became  proficient  scholars, 
while  those  who  disliked  such  ” childish  methods  ” and 
preferred  to  follow  the  bent  of  their  inclinations  were 
sorry  enough  afterwards,  as  they  saw  their  more  pains- 


The  North  Japan  Mission.  ii 

taking  fellows  outstrip  them  in  acquiring  forcible  and 
idiomatic  English  both  in  conversation  and  composition. 

In  Dr.  Brown’s  classes  were  laid  the  foundations  of  our 
present  Meiji  Gakuin,  in  its  Academic  and  Theological 
Departments.  At  the  same  time  his  critical  acumen 
and  fine  linguistic  attainments  were  an  invaluable  as- 
sistance in  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  on 
which  translation  committee  he  acted  as  chairman  from 
its  incipiency  till  he  had  to  leave  Japan  on  account  of 
his  failing  health,  in  July,  1879,  but  a short  time  before 
its  finai  completion. 

He  died  quietly  in  sleep  of  heart  disease,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1880,  at  his  old  home  in  Monson,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  70th  year  of  his  age.  His  wife  survived  him  a few 
years. 

The  Rev.  Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck  was  born  in  Zeist, 
Province  of  Utrecht,  Netherlands,  on  January  23,  1830. 
He  landed  in  Nagasaki  on  November  7th,  1859,  and  he 
passed  away  in  Tokyo  on  March  10th,  1898 — the  26th 
birthday  of  the  first  Protestant  church  in  Japan — in  his 
69th  year,  after  having  labored  in  Japan  for  nearly  forty 
years.  The  first  ten  years  of  his  Japanese  life  were  pas- 
sed in  Nagasaki,  a full  account  of  which  is  given  in  the 
sketch  of  the  South-Japan  Mission. 

Dr.  Verbeck  came  to  Tokyo,  then  called  Yedo,  in  1869, 
at  the  invitation  of  the  central  government  to  establish 
a college  on  Western  lines.  At  the  time  of  his  funeral  the 
editor  of  “ The  Japan  Mail  ” wrote  of  him,  “ In  the  field 
“ of  education,  and  even  in  the  realm  of  politics.  Dr.  Ver- 
“ beck  played  an  eminently  useful,  but  always  unostenta- 
" tious  part.  His  transparent  sincerity  of  character  won 

the  immediate  confidence  of  ail  that  came  in  contact 
" with  him,  his  clear  insight,  just  views,  and  unselfish 
“ sympathy  made  him  an  invaluable  counsellor.  It  was 
“ he  that  organized  the  Kaisei-Gakko,  Japan's  first  col- 
“ lege,  the  embryo  of  the  present  University,  and  many 
" schools  now  flourishing  derived  able  and  kindly  assist- 
“ ance  from  him  in  their  early  days.  How  much  aid  he 
“ rendered  to  the  politicians  of  the  Meiji  era,  in  carrying 
“ out  their  progressive  programme,  we  cannot  attempt  to 
“ estimate  : but  curiously  enough  on  the  very  night  be- 
■“  fore  he  died,  the  present  Prime  Minister  and  Count 


REV.  GUIDO  F.  VERBECK. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


13 


" Okuma,  little  thinking  that  the  subject  of  their  conver- 
" sation  had  only  a few  hours  longer  to  live,  reminded 
“ each  other  that  in  a memorial  penned  by  him  at  the 
" time  of  the  Restoration,  he  recommended  the  measure 
“ which  probably  contributed  more  than  any  other  to 
“ promote  the  spread  of  liberal  ideas  in  Japan,  the  des- 
“ patch  of  publicists  to  Europe  and  America  for  the  pur- 
“ pose  cf  studying  the  civilization  on  which  Japan  had  so 
“ long  turned  her  back.” 

Surgeon-General  Baron  Ishiguro  stated  at  the 
time  of  Dr.  Verbeck’s  funeral,  that  years  before,  Drs. 
Iwasa,  Sagara,  Hasegawa,  and  himself,  after  talking 
over  among  themselves  as  to  what  language  ought  to  be 
used  in  the  study  of  medicine  in  Japan,  were  persuaded 
that  German  was  preferable  to  English  : and  afterwards 
Dr.  Sagara  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  Dr. 
Verbeck,  and  he  agreeing  with  them  made  a recommend- 
ation to  the  government  that  the  science  of  medicine  be 
taught  through  the  German  language,  and  this  advice 
was  adopted,  and  German  was  made  the  language  of 
medicine  in  Japan.  This  is  but  an  example  of  the  way  in 
which  his  advice  was  sought  and  given  on  all  subjects. 
Often  would  he  study  all  night,  in  order  to  prepare  him- 
self to  give  advice  on  some  subject  with  which  he  was 
not  perfectly  familiar.  And  at  a time  when  interpreters 
were  few  and  dictionaries  rare,  his  linguistic  attainments 
made  his  advice  for  consultation  and  reference  most 
valuable.  For  the  Doctor  spoke  and  wrote  English,  Ger- 
man, Dutch,  and  French,  besides  reading  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew. 

Thus  for  ten  years  he  remained  in  the  em.ploy  of  the 
government,  from  1869  till  1878,  at  first  as  president  of 
the  College,  and  afterwards  in  various  capacities  in  the 
Educational  Department,  and  as  adviser  to  the  Privy 
Council  and  Council  of  State,  and  later  as  lecturer  in  the 
Nobles’  School.  On  his  retiring  from  the  government 
service,  and  returning  to  California  for  a well-earned 
rest,  he  wa.s  presented  with  the  decoration  of  the  3rd 
Class  of  the  Rising  Sun  ; and  at  the  same  time  was  made 
the  recipient  of  such  tokens  of  esteem  and  admiration 
from  all  classes  of  the  Japanese,  as  have  rarely  been  ac- 
corded to  any  one. 


u 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


On  his  return  to  Japan  he  once  more  rejoined  the  mis- 
sion ranks,  and  took  part  in  work  congenial  to  his  heart. 
He  taught  in  the  theological  school  at  different  times, 
hut  always  relinquished  his  chair  whenever  he  could  do 
so  without  detriment  to  the  interests  of  the  school,  so 
as  to  leave  himself  more  leisure  for  evangelistic  work, 
which  he  so  much  loved.  He  was  on  the  Revising  Com- 
mittee of  the  Old  Testament  ; and  the  translation  of  the 
Psalms,  Isaiah,  and  some  of  the  later  translations  of  the 
prophetical  books  had  the  advantage  of  the  close  revi- 
sion of  Dr.  Verbeck  and  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
Japanese  church  to  act  with  the  foreign  committees  on 
revision. 

The  work,  however,  for  which  Dr.  Verbeck  was  pecu- 
liarly fitted,  and  in  which  he  took  special  pleasure,  and 
for  which  he  will  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  among 
the  Christians  of  Japan,  was  lecturing  and  preaching. 
His  excellent  linguistic  powers  no  doubt  helped  him  in 
the  study  of  the  Japanese  language,  and  his  long  and 
close  intercourse  with  the  people,  at  times  almost  to  the 
exclusion  of  intercourse  with  foreigners,  enabled  him  to 
perfect  himself  in  the  colloquial,  until  his  mastery  of  this 
was  a cause  of  wonder  and  delight  to  those  who  had  the 
pleasure  of  listening  to  him. 

Though  Dr.  Verbeck  was  very  dear  to  all  the  members 
of  his  mission,  and  most  loyal  to  his  mission’s  standards 
both  from  conviction  and  affection,  yet  all  missionaries 
seemed  to  think  that  he  belonged  to  the  church  at  large, 
and  he  was  cordially  welcomed  and  eagerly  sought  for 
as  a speaker  at  all  kinds  of  meetings  both  by  foreigners 
and  Japanese  alike.  Wherever  he  went  through  the 
country  he  gladly  helped  all  churches,  preaching  a pure 
gospel  for  all  who  would  hear  it. 

As  the  great  Japanese  Preacher  and  the  model 
Christian  “ Gentleman  ” he  will  long  remain  our  pattern 
and  our  guide.  To  have  known  him  intimately  was  in- 
aeed  an  inspiration  and  a cherished  memory,  like  sweet 
perfume  blown  from  the  open  gates  of  Paradise. 

II.  Evangelistic  Work. 

The  distinctively  evangelistic  work  of  the  mission  has 
gradually  grown  up  during  later  years.  For  more  than 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


15 


ten  years  there  was  comparatively  no  such  work  at  all 
The  first  labors  of  the  early  missionaries  were  prepara- 
tory : either  in  the  way  of  linguistic  studies,  or  teaching 
such  students  as  they  could  attract.  Even  .after  public 
preaching  was  tolerated,  ihere  was  no  such  thing  as 
itinerating,  as  the  missionaries  were  confined  within  a 
ten  mile  radius  of  the  treaty  ports.  The  first  tours  were 
made  by  some  of  the  young  converts.  And  one  principal 
reason  of  this  was  the  fact  that  at  first  foreigners  were 
were  not  allowed  to  travel  into  the  interior  of  the  country 
without  guards.  When  these  were  no  longer  necessary, 
about  1873,  different  persons  applied  for  passports  in 
order  to  make  “ scientific  investigations,”  or  to  go  to 
the  hills  for  “ health.”  In  this  way  a fixed  official  word- 
ing grew  up,  and  all  passports  were  marked  ‘‘  for  pur- 
poses of  health  and  scientific  investigation  which  lit- 
tle harmless  phrase  has  caused  a great  deal  of  discussion 
and  recrimination.  The  government  officials  repeatedly 
declared  that  they  knew  the  missionaries  went  out  into 
the  country  to  teach  Christianity,  and  that  they  had  no 
objection  to  their  doing  so,  but  that  the  fixed  wording  of 
the  passports  could  not  be  changed.  And  yet  in  spite  of 
all  this  many  accused  the  missionaries  who  made  use  of 
the  passports  of  preaching  under  false  pretenses.  Of 
course  such  passports  were  an  inconvenience,  because  all 
the  places  visited  had  to  be  entered  on  them,  and  the 
order  of  visiting  the  places  was  fixed,  unless,  as  was  at 
one  time  the  case,  whole  districts  were  designated,  or 
whole  ” circuits,”  into  which  the  roads  of  the  country 
were  divided.  Years  later  when  a new  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  and  a new  American  Minister  happened 
to  come  into  office  about  the  same  time,  they  decided  that 
every  one  would  have  to  abide  strictly  by  the  wording 
of  the  passports,  and  the  American  Minister  so  notified 
his  nationals.  Soon,  however,  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  found  that  he  had  mistaken  the  intention  of  his 
government,  and  informed  the  American  Minister  that 
the  missionaries  might  resume  their  preaching  tours. 
Thus  matters  continued,  and  the  missionaries  were  able 
to  travel  and  teach  under  the  restrictions  of  the  pass- 
ports, wherever  and  whenever  they  pleased. 

In  the  matter  of  holding  public  meetings,  the  rules 


i6  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

were  more  or  less  strict  at  different  times.  Sometimes 
the  subjects,  speakers,  etc.,  had  to  be  announced  to  the 
police  a certain  time  beforehand.  At  other  periods  the 
mere  fact  of  such  a meeting  had  to  be  notified.  At  some 
times  and  places  at  the  large  meetings  there  was  one  or 
more  policemen  present  ; at  other  places  and  times  no 
official  ever  came.  At  present  there  is  no  hindrance  to 
the  missionary  going  where  he  pleases  or  having  what 
meetings  he  pleases,  except  that  sometimes  there  are 
local  disturbances,  and  hindrances  are  put  in  the  way  of 
renting  rooms  for  lectures  or  houses  for  preaching  places. 
Such  obstructions  generally  arise  at  the  instigations  of 
the  priests,  but  they  are  rare. 

Since  the  new  treaties  have  gone  into  effect,  all 
churches,  regular  preaching  places,  or  separate  Sunday 
schools,  etc.,  have  to  be  registered,  as  well  as  all  minis- 
ters, evangelists,  and  regular  paid  workers  ; and  all 
changes  in  the  same  have  to  be  reported.  But  there  is 
no  restriction  placed  on  occasional  meetings  held  at  any 
place  throughout  the  country. 

The  first  evangelistic 
work  was  “hand-picked,” 
work  done  for  individual 
souls.  The  first  person 
baptized  was  Mototaka 
Yano,  a doctor  of  acu- 
puncture, living  in  Kana- 
gawa.  He  was  Mr.  Bal- 
lagh's  teacher,  and  had 
previously  been  the  teach- 
er of  Dr.  Brown.  He  was 
baptized  in  his  sick  bed 
in  October,  1864,  and  died 
the  following  month. 

Then,  on  May  20,  1866, 
Motonori  Wakasu  Murata, 
a minister  (karo)  of  the 
feudal  Lord  of  Hizen,  and 
his  younger  brother  Yukiteru  Ayabe  were  baptized  by  Mr. 
Verbeck  in  Nagasaki.  In  later  years  Mr.  Ayabe  was  a 
member  of  one  of  the  Tokyo  churches. 

In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Williams  (after- 


REV.  JAMES  H.  BALLAGH 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


17 


wards  Bishop  Williams),  of  the  Episcopal  Mission,  bap- 
tized a man  named  Shomura  ; and  during  the  summer 
Mr.  Verbeck  baptized  a Buddhist  priest,  Shimidzu,  who, 
after  Mr.  Verbeck  left  Nagasaki,  was  thrown  into  prison 
for  becoming  a Christian,  and  kept  there  five  years.  He 
afterwards  went  to  Tokyo,  and  became  a member  of  the 
Kojimachi  Church. 

In  Yokohama  Mr.  Ballagh  baptized,  in  May,  1868, 
Takaaki  Ajiki  (whose  name  was  afterwards  changed  to 
Keijiro  Awazu)  and  Kwanichi  Suzuki  ; and  in  February, 
1869,  Mr.  Thompson  baptized  Toshiyasu  Ogawa,  Kojiro 
Suzuki,  and  Dal  Toriya  (a  woman). 

In  the  same  year,  1869,  the  Rev.  George  Ensor  (Church 
of  England  Mission)  baptized  in  Nagasaki  Morizo  Nii- 
mura. 

During  Mr.  Ballagh’s  absence  on  furlough  in  1868-69, 
Mr.  Thompson,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  carried  on 
his  Bible  class  and  the  preaching  services  which  he  had 
started  for  the  few  whom  he  could  gather  ; but  on  Mr. 
Balllagh’s  return  he  resumed  these  services,  and  also 
taught  a day  school  of  over  20  pupils  in  the  little  chapel 
built  on  the  church  lot.  This  school  was  composed  of 
young  samurai  from  all  parts  of  Japan,  seeking  an  Eng- 
lish education,  from  whom  came  not  only  the  first  or- 
ganized body  of  believers,  but  the  first  preachers,  college 
presidents,  and  professors,  as  the  Revs.  Messrs.  Honda, 
Oshikawa,  Uemura,  Mr.  Kumano  and  others. 

The  Week  of  Prayer  had  been  observed  from  the  year 
1860  by  the  missionaries  and  other  Christians  at  their  resi- 
dences, and  was  continued  from  year  to-year  with  marked 
results,  notably  in  the  request  for  prayer  sent  forth, 
January  14,  1866,  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  all  lands, 
for  the  removal  of  the  edict  prohibiting  Christianity.* 
In  1872  the  subjects  of  the  Week  of  Prayer  were  daily  re- 
membered in  Mr.  Ballagh’s  school  by  himself  and  Mr. 
Yoshiyasu  Ogawa,  for  the  time  being  his  teacher.  In 
February,  at  the  time  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  New 
Pear,  the  pupils  of  the  school  proposed  of  their  own  ac- 


♦ “We  call  upon  our  brethren  in  Christ  to  pray  that  this  last  obstacle 
may  be  removed — that  the  spirit  of  God  may  move  the  rulers  of  Japan  to 
proclaim  liberty  to  their  subjects,  liberty  to  hear  and  read  the  Word  of  God.” 


i8  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

cord  the  holding  of  a Week  of  Prayer  for  Japan,  the 
same  as  the  Europeans  had  done  for  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Mr.  Ballagh,  at  their  request,  joined  them  in 
these  exorcises,  and  then  it  was  that  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  opened  for  the  first  time  over  Japan,  and  in 
that  little  school  room  were  poured  out  showers  of  bless- 
ing that  brought  joy  to  the  teacher’s  heart. 

These  blessings  w^ere  continued  for  weeks,  and  as  a 
direct  fruit  of  them  the  first  Japanese  church  was  or- 
ganized at  Yokohama,  on  March  10,  1872.  It  consisted 
of  nine  young  men,  all  members  of  the  schoool,  who  were 
baptized  on  that  day,  and  twm  middle  aged  men  who  had 
been  baptized  previously,  Yoshiyasu  Ogawa  and  Morizo 
Niimura.  These  two  men  were  chosen  elder  and  deacon 
respectively  of  the  young  church.  The  members  gave 
their  church  the  Catholic  name  of  “ The  Church  of  Christ 
in  Japan,”  and  drew  up  their  own  church  constitution,  a 
simple  evangelical  creed,  together  wdth  a few  rules,  ac- 
cording to  w'hich  the  government  of  the  church  was  to  be 
in  the  hands  of  the  pastor  and  eiders,  with  the  consent  of 
the  members. 

Eighteen  months  afterw'ards  a sister  church  was  or- 
ganized in  Tokyo,  on  the  20th  of  September,  1873.  It  was 
composed  of  one  man  Mr.  Thompson  had  baptised  in  the 
early  part  of  the  month,  and  seven  members  of  the  Yoko- 
hama church  set  off  for  the  purpose,  one  of  whom  had 
been  baptized  by  Dr.  Brown,  one  by  Mr.  Thompson,  and 
five  by  Mr.  Ballagh.  Mr.  Thompson  acted  as  their  pas- 
tor, and  the  church  was  known  as  the  Shin-Sakae  Bashl 
Church,  w'hile  the  church  in  Yokohama  was  named 
Kaigan. 

The  Yokohama  church  grew  rapidly.  The  year  after  it 
w'as  organized,  when  the  first  colony  was  sent  off  to 
Tokyo,  the  membership  had  increased  to  62  adults  and  13 
children  ; while  by  1875,  when  the  main  church  building 
v/as  erected,  there  were  166  communicants  and  19  ciiil- 
dren.  The  dedication  of  the  building  took  place  on  July 
10th,  before  which  time  the  meetings  had  been  held  in  the 
little  chapel,  which  had  been  built  at  a time  when  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  erect  some  kind  of  a building  on 
the  lot  so  as  to  retain  the  title  to  the  land. 

The  cost  of  the  church  was  $8,000,  the  first  one  thousand 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


>9 


dollars  of  which  had  been  contributed  by  the  Christians 
of  the  Sandwich  Isiands.  Ten  years  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church,  on  March  18,  1882,  King  Kaiakaua,  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  then  on  a visit  to  Japan,  came  to  a 


KAIGAN  CHURCH,  YOKOHAMA. 

meeting  held  in  the  church,  when  he  was  thanked  for 
the  gift  which  had  been  made  so  many  years  before  by 
his  people,  at  a time  when  there  was  neither  church  nor 
Christian  in  the  country. 


20 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


Not  long’  after  the  organization  of  the  church  Mr.  Bal- 
lagh  made  a visit  to  the  mountain  of  Kano,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Kadzusa,  on  the  other  side  of  Yedo  Bay.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Mrs.  Pruyn  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ogawa, 
and  his  own  two  little  girls.  The  foreigners  were  enter- 
tained at  the  house  of  the  head  man  of  the  village,  a Mr. 
Sakuma,  and  here  in  front  of  the  household  gods  Mr. 
Ballagh  preached  his  first  sermon  outside  of  treaty 
limits,  taking  as  his  text  Paul’s  address  at  the  Areo- 
pagus. Soon  after  Mrs.  Pierson  commenced  work  at  the 
village  of  Ptakone,  where  foreigners  were  beginning  to 
go  for  the  hot  weather,  .and  visited  Yamanaka,  half-way 
down  the  other  side  of  the  pass,  and  even  as  far  as 
Daiba  village  and  the  town  of  Mishima  at  the  foot.  Mr. 
Ballagh  followed  the  same  summer  to  these  towns  and 
and  villages,  and  Dr.  Brown  also  took  part  in  the  services 
held  at  Hakone. 

The  first  evangelistic  -work  of  the  native  church  was 
made  in  October,  1873  when  the  elders  of  the  two 
churches,  Mr.  W.  Okuno  andY.  Ogawa  went  into  the  pro- 
vinces of  Musashi  and  Niso.  Thew  were  greatly  encour- 
aged by  the  success  of  their  trip,  and  on  their  return  Mr. 
Ballagh  speaks  of  having  listened  with  great  interest  to 
the  first  Gospel  sermon  he  had  ever  heard  from  Japanese 
lips.  It  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Okuno  from  the  text,  “For 
ye  were  as  sheeep  going  astray  ; but  are  now  returned 
unto  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  your  souls,”  (I.  Pet.  2 : 
25.) 

It  i\'as  not,  however,  till  July,  1874,  that  the  first  real 
itinerating  tour  took  place,  and  then  it  was  by  the  young 
Christian  students,  who  went  out  two  and  two,  Mr.  K. 
Shinozaki  and  M.  OshiKawa  to  Shidzuoka  ; N.  Yoshida 
and  K.  Ibuka  t-  Yashu  ; Y.  Honda  and  N.  Amenomon 
and  S.  Yeto  to  Shimosa  ; and  Y.  Kumano  to  Hakone. 

During  the  summer  of  1875,  Mr.  Suzuki,  a member  of 
the  Kaigan  Church,  visited  his  relatives  in  Ueda,  a large 
castle  town  in  the  interior  province  of  Shinshu.  While 
there  he  spoke  to  his  friends  and  relatives  of  the  truths 
of  the  Bible,  and  finding  among  them  some  who  had  al- 
ready heard  the  gospel  he  explained  it  to  them  more 
fully.  Among  these  friends  ’w^as  a Mr.  Inagaki.  who  had 
listened  to  Mr.  Thompson’s  preaching  in  Tokyo,  and  at- 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


tended  Mr.  John  Ballagh’s  school  in  Yokohama,  and  who 
also  was  for  about  a year  in  Nagasaki,  where  he  heard 
Mr.  Stout  preach.  Under  the  teaching  of  Mr.  Suzuki  he 
became  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  There 
was  also  in  Ueda  a Mr.  Sakamaki,  who  had  been  bap- 
tized by  Mr.  Thompson  in  Tokyo  in  the  spring,  and  a 
blind  man  who  had  been  baptized  by  Dr.  Palm  in 
Niigata. 

Mr.  Inagaki  on  his  return  from  Nagasaki  passed 
through  Yokohama  and  heard  of  a temperance  society 
which  had  been  started  there.  He  was  so  much  interest- 
ed in  it  for  his  own  personal  needs  that  he  began  one 
with  seven  members  after  his  return  to  Ueda.  They  met 
regularly,  and  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  grew  out  of 
their  adopting  the  Ten  Commandments  as  their  Consti- 
tution. This  required  - the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath,  so 
that  on  that  day  they  studied  the  Bible,  and  as  thej'  read 
they  marked  the  passages  they  did  not  understand,  in  the 
hope  that  before  long  some  one  would  come  who  could 
explain  what  was  not  clear  to  them.  The  temperance 
meetings  were  strictly  confined  to  the  week  days. 

This  band  of  Bible  believers  was  discovered  by  Mr.  M. 
Oshikawa  in  1S75,  when  he  passed  through  Ueda  on  his 
way  to  help  Dr.  Palm,  of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Mission, 
in  Niigata.  He  instructed  them,  and  on  his  advice  Mr. 
Inagaki  went  to  Yokohama  and  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Bal- 
lagh  in  January,  1876.  For  many  years  now  he  has  been 
a prominent  minister,  and  was  for  a long  while,  and  is 
now  for  the  second  time,  the  pastor  of  the  Kaigan  Church 
in  Yokohama. 

Having  learned  of  this  interest  which  had  sprung  up, 
unconnected  with  any  missionary  effort,  and  understand- 
ing also  that  the  believers  were  anxious  to  have  a mis- 
sionary come  and  instruct  them,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller 
started  for  Ueda  in  the  beginning  of  August,  1876,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  S.  Maki.  They  were  met  at  a tea  house 
five  miles  from  the  town  by  five  young  men,  who  had 
been  waiting  for  them  since  morning,  and  who  accom- 
panied them  into  Ueda  to  a house  selected  for  their  ac- 
commodation, where  they  remained  ten  days.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  to  hold  two  services  daily  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Inagaki’s  besides  the  Sunday  services  and  the 


22 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


meetings  for  tvomen.  These  daily  services  were  attended 
by  from  20  to  100  persons.  On  the  last  Sabbath  Mr.  Mil- 
ler baptized  16  persons  ; two  men  of  middle  age,  eight 
young  men,  three  of  whom  were  teachers  in  the  common 
schoois,  four  widows,  one  young  girl,  and  Mr.  Inagaki’s 
little  baby,  who  was  christened  Love.  After  the  rite  of 
baptism  was  administered,  the  Lord’s  Supper  was  cele- 
brated by  this  little  band  of  disciples,  far  away  from  all 
other  Christians  and  surrounded  by  those  who  knew  little 
of  their  recently  professed  faith  and  cared  less. 

When  the  day  came  for  the  missionaries  to  leave  their 
young  converts,  they  were  awakened  by  the  clatter  of  the 
wooden  clogs  of  those  who  had  come  to  bid  them  fare- 
well, who,  with  Japanese  patience,  waited  till  the  mis- 
sionaries had  breakfasted,  when  joining  in  a short 
prayer  they  took  their  leave,  many  with  tears  in  their 
eyes.  At  their  earnest  request,  however,  Mr.  Maki  re- 
mained till  the  end  of  September  to  instruct  them. 

The  church  at  Ueda  was  organized  on  October  8th  of 
the  same  year,  when  16  more  persons  were  baptized  by 
Mr.  Ballagh,  and  Mr.  Inagaki  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship. His  wife  and  grandmother  besides  one  or  tw'o  sis- 
ters were  baptized  that  day.  The  two  former  after  a 
consistent  course  have  entered  into  glory. 

This  account  is  given  at  length  as  an  example  of  the 
way  in  which  the  gospel  seed  was  springing  up  all  over 
the  country.  Sometimes  carried  by  the  missionaries 
sometimes  by  the  native  Christians,  and  sometimes  by 
the  written  word.  One  of  the  believers  in  Ueda  said  that 
he  had  his  attention  attracted  to  Christianity  by  a 
clause  in  the  treaty  executed  between  the  United  States 
and  Japan  eleven  years  before. 

Other  work  under  the  care  of  our  mission  was  started 
in  several  places  in  the  city  of  Tokyo  and  its  vicinity. 
So  that  in  1877  the  Kojimachi  Church  was  organized  ; 
in  1878  the  Wado  Church,  in  a village  not  far  from  Tok- 
yo where  the  work  was  started  by  a farmer’s  son  ; the 
same  year  Mr.  Ito  established  the  work  in  Mishima  ; in 
1879  the  Shitaya  Church  was  organized,  of  which  Mr. 
Uemura  became  pastor,  and  the  Kojimachi  Church  was 
built,  but  was  burnt  down  shortly  afterwards  and  not 
rebuilt  again  until  1881.  In  1879  also  Mr.  Banno  began 


FIRST  MEETING  PLACE  OF  THE  KOJIMACHI  CHURCH,  TOKYO. 


24 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


work  in  Nagoya  under  the  mission,  and  subsequently 
Mr.  Yamamoto  in  Okasaki.  There  was  for  years  quite 
a prosperous  work  in  this  field,  the  provinces  of  Mino 
and  Owari;  but  as  the  mission  could  not  take  sufficient 
oversight  of  it,  it  was  passed  over  to  the  care  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Mission. 

The  following  churches  were  once  under  the  care  of 
our  mission  but  are  now  self-supporting  : — Kaigan  in 
Yokohama  ; Kojimachi  and  Shitaya  in  Tokyo  ; Ueda  and 
Kasuga  in  Shinshu  ; Mishima  in  Idzu  ; Nagoya  and  Seto 
in  Owari  ; etc.  Of  course  for  all  such  independence  we 
are  most  devoutly  thankful.  It  is  for  this  end  that  we 
labor  as  missionaries,  to  bring  the  Japanese  church  as 
quickly  as  possible  into  a state  of  entire  independence  of 
foreign  money,  being  self-supporting  and  self-propaga- 
ting. When,  hoAvever,  the  work  has  not  reached  a state 
of  self-support,  and  where  we  have  expended  years  of 
labor,  or  where  most  favorable  opportunities  are  offered 
to  us,  but  through  insufficient  men  and  means  at  our 
disposal  we  are  unable  to  accept  them,  it  is  sad  indeed  to 
have  to  pass  this  work  over  to  others. 

As  an  example  of  this  latter  case  we  may  cite  the  fol- 
lowing : — In  1873  or  ’74  an  earnest  request  came  through 
Mr.  Honda,  one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Kaigan 
Church,  that  the  mission  send  some  one  to  open  a school 
in  his  native  town  of  Hirosaki,  away  in  the  north  of  the 
island.  No  one  on  the  field  was  available,  and  before 
any  arrangements  could  be  made  from  home,  the 
Methodist  Mission  was  able  to  send  the  Rev.  J.  Ing. 
who  taught  in  the  school,  and  through  whose  labors  15 
converts  were  baptized.  These  believers  sent  a request 
to  the  Kaigan  Church  to  organize  them  into  a church, 
and  that  a pastor  or  elder  be  sent  to  the  service.  This 
request  was  granted  and  Mr.  Honda  was  ordained  as 
their  elder,  and  in  November.  1875  the  Hirosaki  Church 
was  organized,  but  afterwards  it  joined  the  Methodist 
body.  It  has  been  one  of  the  strongest  churches  in  Ja- 
pan in  influence,  for  :t  has  been  said  that  a large  per 
cent., — some  say  as  high  as  one-third — of  the  native 
ministers  in  the  Methodist  Church  in  Japan  have  gone 
out  from  the  Hirosaki  Church. 

In  the  year  1878  an  Evangelistic  Committee  was 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


25 


formed,  composed  of  foreign  and  native  ministers  and 
elders,  and  much  of  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  mis- 
sions was  intrusted  to  this  committee.  In  1879  it  was  de- 
veloped into  a central  Board  of  Home  Missions  under 
the  Classis  (at  this  time  there  was  only  one  Classis, 
called  in  Japanese  a Chukwai).  The  work  which  was 
given  over  to  the  Evangelistic  Committee,  and  so  passed 
on  to  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  was  the  most  pros- 
perous part  of  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  several  mis- 
sions : and  as  a natural  consequence  the  less  prosperous 
and  more  dlfRcult  places  were  left  on  the  hands  of  the 
missions.  Another  consequence  was  that  the  better 
evangelists  were  employed  and  larger  means  expended 
on  those  places  under  the  Committee,  and  as  a final  re- 
sult some  of  the  present  evangelistic  work  under  the 
mission  is  backword  and  needs  a great  deal  of  pushing 
and  fostering  to  bring  it  up  to  a point  which  it  ought  to 
have  attained  years  ago. 

The  present  evangelistic  work  under  the  direct  super- 
vision of  the  mission  is  situated  in  and  around  Yoko- 
hama ; in  the  province  of  Awa,  across  Yedo  Bay  ; in 
the  province  of  Idzu  ; in  the  province  of  Shinano,  divided 
into  the  North  and  South  Shinshu  fields  ; and  to  the  ex- 
treme north  of  the  main  island,  in  the  provinces  of 
Rikuchu  and  Mutsu,  centered  in  the  cities  of  Morioka 
and  Aomori. 

Of  these  fields  that  of  Awa  is  neither  very  flourishing 
nor  important  ; the  workers  have  not  been  first  class 
men,  and  the  results  are  not  very  encouraging. 

The  Idzu  field  includes  the  work  at  Mishima,  Koyama, 
Gotemba,  Kashiwakubo,  &c.,  towns  and  villages  around 
the  foot  of  Fuji.  The  Avork  here  has  been  very  pros- 
perous in  the  past,  and  earnest  Christians  have  gone 
out  from  these  towns,  but  noAv  the  prospect  is  not  so 
bright  ; Mr.  Miura,  hOAvever,  has  just  been  transferred 
to  this  field  from  Morioka,  and  his  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience may  infuse  new  life  into  it. 

The  Shinshu  field  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
empire.  It  lies  near  the  heart  of  Japan  geographically, 
Avith  a population  of  1,226,842,  and  is  the  great  centre  for 
silk  culture  for  raising  the  silk-worms  and  cocoons.  A 
range  of  mountains  diAudes  it  into  the  northern  and 


26 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


southern  fields,  the  centres  of  which  are  Ueda  and  Saka- 
shita,  though  these  places  are  not  the  most  important 
towns  in  their  respective  districts,  merely  being  the  most 
centrally  situated  for  our  work.  The  two  important 
cities  are  Matsumoto  in  the  south,  and  Nagano  in  the 
north.  The  whole  province  of  Shinano  is  the  most  ele- 
vated table-land  in  Japan.  It  is  fertile  and  populous, 
and  there  are  m.any  large  towns  in  it.  There  is  one  line 
of  railroad  running  from  Tokyo  to  the  West  coast,  and 
thence  on  to  Niigata,  which  passes  directly  through  the 
line  of  our  work  in  North-Shinshu.  Another  line  will 
be  built  in  the  course  of  two  years,  which  will  run  from 
Nagano  into  South-Shinshu  and  Koshu,  and  so  round 
into  Tokyo  from  the  west,  instead  of  from  the  north.  The 
opening  of  this  second  line  will  give  an  impetus  to  the 
whole  of  southern  Shinshu,  and  tend  to  increase  the  im- 
portance of  our  work  in  Matsumoto,  Suwa,  Sakashita, 
and  lida. 

Of  these  towns  in  which  our  present  work  is  carried 
on  by  native  helpers,  Matsumoto  is  the  most  important. 
It  was  formerly  the  capital  of  the  prefecture,  and  is  still, 
in  spite  of  the  official  centre  having  been  transferred  to 
Nagano,  the  largest  town  in  South  Shinshu,  and  the  cen- 
tre of  all  the  trade  in  that  region.  It  is  connected  by 
roads  with  the  West  coast,  and  is  within  a day  of  Na- 
gano by  a rapid  river  (which,  however,  is  impracticable 
for  the  return  journey),  and  in  a year  or  two  will  be  con- 
nected by  rail  with  the  latter  place.  The  same  railroad 
will  also  connect  it  with  Tokyo.  It  is  a town  of  30,763 
inhabitants,  and  is  full  of  bustle  and  activity. 

The  work  of  the  mission  at  Matsumoto  has  been  car- 
ried on  for  eight  years,  but  has  not  been  prosecuted 
energetically,  and  is  not  so  flourishing  as  it  should  be. 
Matsumoto  should  be  made  a mission  station,  with  a 
resident  missionary,  who  could  ov.  liook  the  whole  of 
the  w’ork  in  the  South  Shinshu  field. 

Sakashita,  a tow’n  of  8,310  people,  is  nearly  32  miles 
down  the  valley  from  Matsumoto  in  a southerly  direc- 
tion. It  has  grown  lately  from  the  decay  of  a large 
town  called  Takato,  not  far  aw’ay.  It  is  quite  a business 
place  on  a small  scale,  but  promises  rapid  growth  wiien 
the  railroad  is  finished  through  to  Tokyo.  Our  work  here 


The  North  Japan  Mission, 


27 


is  more  flourishing  than  in  any  place  occupied  by  our 
evangelists,  although  it  has  been  commenced  recently. 

Suva,  with  6,200  inhabitants,  is  a town  at  the  foot  of 
the  Wada  Pass,  on  the  Naka-Sen-Do,  the  main  road 
through  the  centre  of  the  island  from  Tokyo  to  Kyoto. 
It  is  about  20  miles  from  Matsumoto,  and  the  same  dis- 
tance from  Sakashita,  but  somewhat  off  the  direct  route 
through  these  two  towns.  The  town  is  not  of  great  im- 
portance, but  there  are  large  silk-reeling  factories  in 
the  vicinity,  and  it  is  a centre  from  which  the  near 
towns  and  villages  can  be  reached.  The  work  here  is 
not  large  but  fairly  flourishing.  There  is  a little  chapel 
built  by  the  believers,  largely  with  the  help  of  the  mis- 
sion. The  evangelist  in  charge  visits  Upper-Suwa,  a 
town  of  9,900  people,  where  also  work  has  been  carried 
on  for  a number  of  years.  This  latter  village  is  three 
miles  away  and  on  the  main  road  into  the  province  of 
Koshu. 

lida  is  a large  town  containing  a population  of  14,223 
persons,  about  28  miles  down  the  river  from  Sakashita. 
It  is  a clean  and  thrifty  place,  and  the  outlet  of  the  trade 
of  the  valley,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Tenryu 
River,  a day’s  journey  down  the  rapids  of  which  takes 
one  to  the  town  of  Hamamatsu  on  the  Tokaido.  The 
outlook  for  Christian  work  in  lida  is  bright,  as  it  was 
well  started  and  continues  to  prosper. 

Looking  at  North-Shinshu,  the  natural  centre  is  Na- 
gano, a city  of  30,412  persons,  the  capital  of  the  prefec- 
ture, the  seat  of  the  great  temple  of  Zenkoji,  and  so  of 
Buddhistic  influence.  It  lies  in  a fertile  plain  surround- 
ed by  mountains.  In  coming  from  Tokyo  the  railroad 
luns  through  a beautiful  and  flourishing  section  of  coun- 
try for  about  one  hundred  miles  to  the  foot  of  the  cele- 
brated Usui  Pass.  From  there  it  climbs  by  the  AbL  sys- 
tem to  the  edge  of  the  great  table-land  of  Shinshu,  and 
just  on  the  borders  of  this  table-land,  at  the  top  of  the 
pass,  lies  the  village  of  Karuizawa  within  sight  of  the 
smoking  volcano  of  Asama.  This  is  the  great  summer 
resort  of  the  missionaries  of  Japan.  From  Karuizawa 
the  table-land  gradually  declines  towards  the  west  coast, 
and  about  half  way  down  is  the  city  of  Nagano,  135  miles 
from  Tokyo,  or  nine  hours  by  rail,  being  21  miles  or  one 


23 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


hour  distant  from  Ueda.  There  are  said  to  be  ten  towns 
v.'ithin  fifteen  miles  radius  of  Nagano,  each  of  which 
contains  over  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  besides  the  in- 
tervening: villages.  On  account  of  the  bigotry  of  the 
people,  all  of  whom  are  under  the  influence  of  the  priests 
of  the  great  temple,  the  city  is  not  such  an  important 
commercial  centre  as  its  position  and  prestige  would 
warrant,  but  for  evangelistic  work  it  is  one  of  the  great 
cities  of  Japan. 

Next  to  the  great  temple  its  most  commanding  build- 
ings are  those  of  its  large  and  rapidly  growin.g  schools, 
from  the  lowest  grade  to  the  Normal.  About  100  stu- 
dents, many  of  whom  are  largely  influenced  by  the 
teaching  of  the  missionaries,  go  out  each  year  from  the 
higher  schools  into  the  various  parts  of  the  province 
disarmed,  to  say  the  least,  of  their  prejudice  against 
Christianity. 

The  work  of  the  mission 
was  commenced  in  this 
city  in  1890,  but  it  has  only 
been  since  1897,  when  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Scudder  and 
Mrs.  Schenck  were  lo- 
cated here,  that  it  has 
been  adequately  looked 
after.  The  great  number 
of  priests,  and  the  way  in 
which  almost  every  one  in 
the  place  is  connected  in 
one  way  or  another  with 
the  temple  and  its  ser- 
vices, makes  it  a very  dif- 
ficult place  in  which  to 
carry  on  successful  mis- 
sion work.  But  this  will 
pass  away  in  the  course  of  time,  and  the  very  fact  of  the 
people  being  zealous  Buddhists  will  lead  to  their  being- 
zealous  Christians,  as  soon  as  their  eyes  are  opened  to 
the  light.  The  preaching  place  at  Nagano  is  steadily  in- 
creasing in  membership,  the  number  of  believers  at 
present  being  about  40. 


REV,  FRANK  S.  SCUDUEP. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


29 


The  oldest  centre  for  the  work  of  the  mission  in  Shin- 
shu  is  Ueda,  a town  of  23,664  inhabitants.  The  Ueda 
Church  was  organized  October  8,  1876  with  37  members, 
and  it  continued  under  the  care  of  our  mission,  with 
intervals  of  self-support,  until  the  Synod  (Daikwai)  took 
oversight  of  it  in  1895.  It  is  now  self-supporting,  and 
their  new  pastor  was  installed  in  December,  1899.  The 
members  of  the  church  cordially  work  with  the  ladies  of 
the  mission  stationed  in  Ueda. 

Although  our  mission 
was  so  closely  connected 
with  this  work  in  Ueda 
from  as  long  ago  as  1876, 
it  was  not  till  the  year 
1894  that  Miss  Mary  E. 

Brokaw  went  there  to  re- 
side, and  was  followed  the 
next  year  by  Miss  Mary 
Deyo.  They  have  devel- 
oped the  work  among  the 
women  and  established 
Sunday  schools  and  wo- 
men’s meetings  through 
all  the  towns  and  villages 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
given  a great  impetus 
to  the  whole  evangelistic 
work,  rousing  the  church  members  to  more  activity  and 
zeal.  Miss  Brokaw  remained  till  1898,  when  she  went  to 
America,  and  on  her  return  to  Japan  was  married  to  the 
Rev.  Wm.  Y.  Jones,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission.  Miss 
Harriet  Wyckoff  went  to  be  associated  with  Miss  Deyo 
in  October,  1899,  but  returned  to  the  Ferris  Seminary  in 
April,  1900. 

From  Ueda  and  the  neighbouring  town  of  Komoro,  a 
place  of  8,404  people,  where  the  mission  has  carried  on 
work  for  years,  mostly  through  the  labors  of  the  Rev. 
Shigeto  Maki,  smaller  places  have  been  reached,  but 
no  one  of  them  is  very  prominent.  At  one  time  there 
was  an  organized  church  at  Kasuga,  a small  village  of 
2,631  persons  in  the  mountains,  but  this  was  subsequent- 
ly disbanded  by  the  Classis,  and  lately  the  believers  of 


30 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


Usuda  and  Nozawa,  formerly  belonging  to  the  Kasuga 
Church,  have  been  organized  into  the  Usuda  Church, 
and  are  under  the  care  of  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  the 
Synod  (Daikwai). 

Another  evangelistic  field  of  the  mission  is  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  main  island,  in  the  prefecture  of  Iwate 
and  Aomori.  Work  was  commenced  in  Morioka  by  the 
Rev.  Taketaro  Hayashi  and  his  wife  late  in  the  year 
1887.  They  were  followed  the  next  spring  by  Mr.  E.  R. 

Miller  and  Mr.  Torn 
Miura,  who  removed  there 
permanently  with  their 
families  during  the  sum- 
mer. After  a little  over 
a year  of  labor  Mr.  Hay- 
ashi removed  to  Mom- 
betsu,  a town  on  Volcano 
Bay,  in  the  Hokkaido,  and 
became  pastor  of  the 
church  in  that  place.  The 
members  of  this  churcn 
later  started  a colony  for 
the  support  of  the  Hokkai 
Orphan  Asylum,  of  which 
Mr.  Hayashi  became  the 
head,  and  has  continued  to 
be  the  efficient  manager 
ever  since. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  were  joined  by  Miss  Leila  M.  Winn 
in  September  1891,  who  continued  in  Morioka  till  the 
spring  of  1894  when  she  removed  to  Aomori. 

We  are  indebted  also  to  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Geo.  P. 
Pierson,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  who  kindly  consen- 
ted to  take  the  oversight  of  the  church  work  during  Mr. 
Miller’s  absence  in  America,  from  May,  1892  to  Decem- 
ber, 1893. 

Morioka,  the  capital  of  Iwate  Prefecture,  is  a city  of 
34,000  inhabitants,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Kita- 
gami  River,  the  largest  city  north  of  Sendai,  except 
Niigata  which  is  on  the  West  coast.  It  is  both  the 
tradal  and  educational  centre  of  the  whole  northern  part 


REV,  E.  ROTHESAY  MILLER. 


MORIOKA  CHAPEL. 


32 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


of  the  country.  There  are  some  cocoons  and  rice  raised, 
but  the  principal  products  are  lumber,  cotton  woven 
goods,  iron  tea-kettles,  a little  lacquer,  and  other  indus- 
tries. The  schools  are  of  all  kinds,  from  prim.ary  up  to 
normal,  and  of  late  years,  higher  schools  for  girls  have 
been  established.  There  are  besides  an  agricultural 
school  and  a v terinary  school  under  the  prefecture 
government,  and  a central  government  has  just  issued 
plans  for  the  gradual  building  of  a higher  school  for  agri- 
culture and  forestry,  the  students  for  which  will  be 
graduates  of  the  Middle  School.  This  school  will  be  of 
the  same  grade  as  that  of  the  Agricultural  College  in 
Satsuporo. 

As  a consequence  of  all  these  schools  there  is  a large 
number  of  students  fiom  all  over  the  prefecture  ; and 
among  those  who  listen  to  Christianity  the  young  people 
form  the  majority,  the  next  larger  class  being  the  offi- 
cials, comparatively  few  of  the  merchant  class  attend- 
ing the  services.  Thus  it  happens  that  those  who  are 
baptized  are  a movable  quantity,  the  officials  changing 
every  few  years,  and  the  young  men  growing  up  and 
going  away  to  other  places  either  to  complete  their 
studies,  or  to  enter  their  life  work.  To  be  sure  in  after 
years  the,y  may  retui'n,  but  in  the  meantime  the  church 
roll  is  continually  changing,  while  the  number  of  be- 
lievers remains  about  the  same  from  year  to  year.  Had 
all  remained  who  he.ve  joined  the  bo.1y  of  Christians 
from  :he  beginning,  there  would  be  a strong  self-sup- 
porting church,  for  over  one  hundred  have  been  bap- 
tized and  nearly  half  as  many  m.ore  have  been  received 
from  other  churches.  The  present  membership  is  92, 
but  of  these  only  23  are  living  in  Morioka,  of  whom  5 are 
children. 

There  is  a Methodist  Church  in  Morioka  as  well  as  a 
Baptist  one,  in  numbers  not  quite  so  large  as  our  own. 
The  most  cordial  relations  exist  between  the  believers. 
We  have  a union  prayer  meeting  every  month,  which 
meets  in  turn  at  the  different  churches,  and  an  exchange 
of  pulpits  monthly.  There  is  also  a monthly  ministers’ 
meeting,  where  items  of  moment  are  discussed,  and 
union  meetings  and  matters  of  mutual  interest  are  ar- 
ranged for. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


33 


In  1895  the  lot  for  the  church  was  bought,  and  the 
same  year  the  church  and  parsonage  were  built,  the  dea- 
dication  taking  place  on  Christmas  Day.  The  whole  cost 
was  $1,968  gold,  or  $3,725  silver  ; which  includes  the  cost 
of  grounds,  parsonage,  church,  and  furnishing. 

An  interesting  work  has  grown  up  in  the  prison. 
In  1891  permission  was  obtained  to  hold  preaching  ser- 
vices on  Sunday  afternoons  for  all  those  prisoners  who 
wished  to  attend.  At  first  Mr.  Miller,  Mr.  Poate  of  the 
Baptist  Mission,  and  Mr.  Miura  took  turns  in  this  ser- 
vice : but  after  Mr.  Poate  and  Mr.  Miller  went  to 
America  in  1892,  Mr.  Miura  carried  on  the  work  alone, 
for  even  after  Mr.  Miller’s  return  in  1893,  he  could  not 
obtain  permission  to  renew  his  work.  Quite  a number  of 
the  prisoners  have  been  deeply  interested,  and  have  pro- 
fessed a desire  to  lead  better  lives,  and  some  have  asked 
for  baptism.  As  long  as  they  remain  in  Morioka  they  at- 
tend the  services  in  the  church,  but  as  most  of  them  are 
from  other  parts  of  the  prefecture,  when  they  return  to 
their  homes  they  have  no  opportunity  to  hear  Christian- 
ity, but  we  try  not  to  lose  sight  of  those  who  are  in  earn- 
est. Before  Mr.  Miura  left,  Mr.  Shimamura  received 
permission  to  carry  on  the  work  in  the  prison  in  his 
place. 


Mr.  Muira  after  over 
twelve  years  of  faithful 
service  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Idzu  field,  on 
account  of  his  wife’s 
health.  He  will  reside  for 
the  present  in  the  city  of 
Shidzuoka.  His  place  will 
be  supplied  by  Mr.  H. 
Shimamura,  a graduate  of 
the  Theological  Depart- 
ment of  the  Meiji  Gakuin. 
His  wife  is  a graduate  of 
the  Methodist  Bible  School 
in  Yokohama. 

From  1888  work  was 
commenced  in  Hanamaki, 
a town  of  8,360  people 
about  25  miles  south  of 


REV.  H.  HARRIS 


34 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


Morioka,  on  the  line  of  the  railroad,  but  after  varying 
success  the  work  was  given  up,  for  nearly  all  the  Chris- 
tians had  moved  away,  and  no  one  came  to  the  services, 
and  the  worker  in  charge  asked  to  be  relieved.  The  be- 
lievers are  just  now  asking  for  occasional  services  and 
offering  to  entertain  the  evangelist  when  he  comes. 

Work  was  opened  in  Ichinoseki  in  the  summer  of  1894. 
This  is  a town  on  the  borders  of  the  prefecture,  some  60 
miles  south  of  Morioka.  Ichinoseki,  including  the  con- 
necting villages,  contains  some  12,822  inhabitants,  which 
makes  it  the  largest  place  in  the  prefecture  next  to 
Morioka,  and  lately  it  has  become  a school  centre  for  that 
part  of  the  country,  a Middle  and  Higher  Primary  School 
having  been  built. 

There  is  considerable  interest  among  some  cf  the  stu- 
dents, and  the  work  is  doing  well.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harris 
labored  here  for  one  year,  but  in  Septembei',  18P9  removed 
to  Aomori  to  take  the  place  of  Miss  Winn,  who  had  gone 
home  on  furlough.  At  present  the  work  is  in  charge  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miyagawa,  who  were  married  last  January, 
though  Mr.  Miyagawa  had  been  laboring  at  Ichinoseki 
since  Mr.  Harris  went  there. 

Miss  M.  Leila  Winn 
went  to  Morioka  in  Sep- 
tember, 1891,  and  remained 
there  during  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Millers’  absence  in 
America,  1892-93.  In  1894 
she  went  to  Aomori,  a city 
on  the  northern  coast  of 
the  main  land,  where 
work  had  been  started  by 
Mr.  Maki  in  the  autumn 
of  1891.  A lot  of  land  was 
purchased  by  the  mission, 
and  a house  built  for  Miss 
Winn  in  1895  ; and  in  1899 
a church  was  put  up  on 
the  Same  lot,  at  a cost  of 
$950  gold.  The  dedicatory 
services  were  held  June  24, 
1900. 


MISS  M.  LEILA  WINN. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


35 


The  work  is  doing  well  here.  Mr.  Nagayano,  the  evan- 
gelist, having  just  removed  to  take  up  work  in  Nagano. 
Mr.  Akasu  and  his  wife  entered  the  field  in  September. 
He  has  been  laboring  lately  at  Mito  under  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions  of  the  Synod  (Daikwai). 

Aomori  is  a very  enterprising  place  and  is  certain 
to  grow  in  importance,  since  it  is  the  terminus  of  two 
railroads,  one  the  trunk-line  from  Tokyo  to  the  north, 
and  the  other  from  the  west  coast,  by  way  of  Akita  and 
Hirosaki.  Within  the  last  twelve  years  the  growth  has 
been  from  15,000  to  29,000,  the  streets  have  been  paved 
and  electric  lights  introduced.  All  the  trade  by  rail 
front  the  main  island  to  be  shipped  to  the  Hokkaido  must 
pass  through  Aomori  ; but  just  on  this  account  the  popu- 
lation is  a shifting  one,  and  not  noted  for  its  over  hon- 
esty ; but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  not  particularly 
prejudiced  against  Christianity.  They  are  not  so  conser- 
vative as  the  people  of  the  south,  nor  so  accessible  as 
those  of  the  Hokkaido. 

In  neither  Morioka  nor  Aomori  has  a regular  church 
been  organized,  because  neither  place  is  yet  able  to  sup- 
port its  own  pastor.  But  according  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  Japanese  Church,  preaching  places  can  be  placed 
in  charge  of  certain  ministers,  who  report  them  to  Clas- 
sis  (Chukwai)  as  regular  bodies  of  believers  ; in  this  way 
they  have  a certain  standing  and  organization.  They 
are  generally  spoken  of  as  churches,  though  technically 
they  are  merely  “ preaching  places.” 

The  characteristics  of  these  people  of  the  north,  in  con- 
tradistinction from  those  of  the  south,  are  inactivity  in 
business,  politics,  religion,  and  pretty  much  everything, 
and  indifference  to  all  religious  questions,  not  only  to 
Christianity  but  to  Buddhism  as  well.  Even  the  be- 
lievers seem  to  be  satisfied  with  having  become  Chris- 
tians themselves,  and  do  not  feel  the  need  of  working  for 
others.  However,  these  lukewarm  believers  generally 
remain  as  they  are,  that  is,  though  they  are  not  active 
Christians,  they  are  not  so  apt  to  change  as  some  of 
those  in  the  south. 

The  work  is  more  hopeful  in  the  north  than  it  has  been 
for  years,  the  interest  being  especially  among  the  young 
men  in  schools. 


36  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

III.  Educational  Work. 

I.  FERRIS  SEMINARY. 

When  missionaries  first  came  to  Japan,  although  there 
were  schools  and  teachers  for  boys  and  young  men,  the 
education  of  the  girls  was  almost  entirely  neglected. 
And  even  after  the  Educational  Department  was  or- 
ganized and  a public  school  system  established  through- 
out the  country,  it  was  a long  time  before  girls  were 
found  in  any  classes  but  those  of  the  Primary  Schools. 
For  this  reason  the  first  steps  in  the  education  of  the 
women  of  Japan  on  modern  lines  was  inaugurated  by  the 
missionaries. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  America  has  the  honor  of 
sending  out  tiie  first  woman  to  devote  herself  to  the  edu- 
cation and  Christianization  of  the  women  of  Japan. 
Miss  Mary  E.  Kidder  may  be  considered  the  pioneer  in 
this  work,  which  has  at  the  present  time  grov/n  to  such 
large  dimensions.  For  although  Miss  C.  Adriance  did 
come  out  under  our  Board  in  1859  with  Dr.  Brown’s 
family,  yet  she  grew  discouraged  and  left  for  the  Amoy 
field.  She  died  shortly  afterwards  in  1863. 

Miss  Kidder  accompanied  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  on  their 
second  visit  to  Japan  in  1869,  and  as  soon  after  landing  in 
Yokohama  as  the  necessary  preparations  could  be  made 
they  left  for  Niigata,  where  Dr.  Brown  had  been  engaged 
to  teach  in  a government  school,  since  at  that  time  no 
direct  Christian  work  could  be  undertaken.  Here  amidst 
purely  Japanese  surroundings  she  devoted  herself  to  the 
study  of  the  language,  using  what  slight  helps  were 
available  at  that  day.  In  this  way  she  was  preparing 
herself  for  the  work  that  came  to  her  later. 

In  1870  Dr.  Brown  having  been  transferred  from  the 
school  in  Niigate  to  one  in  Yokohama,  Miss  Kidder  ac- 
companied him  and  Mrs.  Brown,  and  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  at  Mrs.  Hepburn’s  (Presbyterian  Mission)  re- 
quest, took  over  a class  of  one  boy  and  two  girls,  whom 
Mrs.  Hepburn  h<*d  taught  to  read.  At  the  end  of  a year 
she  had  six  girls  in  the  class,  and  so  passed  the  boys  on 
to  Mrs.  Pierson,  of  the  Women’s  Union  Missionary 
Society,  and  kept  the  girls  only,  since  she  had  come  to 
labor  for  the  women  of  Japan.  During  the  second  year 


THE  FERRIS  SEMINARY,  YOKOHAMA, 


33 


The  Noriii  Japan  Mission, 


the  class  increased  to  22,  and  in  July  she  removed  from 
Dr.  Hepburn’s  dispensary,  in  which  she  met  her  class, 
and  which  he  had  kindly  placed  at  her  disposal  during 
his  absence  in  China,  to  a house  outside  of  the  foreign 
concession  situated  in  the  official  part  of  the  city,  which 
■was  procured  through  the  kindness  of  the  governor,  Mr. 
Taku  Oye,  free  of  rent  ; who  also  presented  her  with  a 
covered  jinrikisha  drawn  by  two  coolies,  as  the  school 
was  some  miles  away  from  her  home. 

This  school  was  carried  on  for  three  years  at  the 
house  on  Ise  Yama,  but  was  removed  to  its  present  posi- 
tion on  the  Bluff  in  Yokohama  in  1875,  the  plot  of  land 
having  been  obtained  from  the  government,  through 
the  good  offices  of  the  governor,  after  a great  deal  of 
diplomatic  correspondence. 

Miss  Kate  Hequembourg  was  sent  out  by  the  Board 
to  assist  Miss  Kidder  in  the  school  in  November,  1872, 
but  her  health  soon  failing  she  returned  home  in  the 
spring  of  1874. 


The  lease  of  the  lot 
was  placed  in  Mrs.  Mil- 
ler’s hands  in  November, 
1874,  at  the  same  time  that 
the  money  came  from  the 
Board  for  building  the 
school.  Miss  Emma  C. 
Whitbeck  arrived  the 
same  month  to  teach  in 
the  school. 


The  Ferris  Seminary 
was  opened  on  the  1st  of 
June  ,1875.  Prom  this  time 
until  the  reurn  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Miller*  to  the  United 
States  on  furlough,  in  the 
spring  of  1879,  Mr.  Miller 
assisted  in  the  conduct  of 


MRS.  E.  ROTHESAY  MII.I.ER. 


* Mr.  Miller  came  out  to  Japan  In  June,  1872,  under  the  Presbyterian 
Board,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Kidder  in  July,  1873.  Although  he  resigned 
from  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  September,  1874,  he  still  continued  to  work 
with  that  mission  till  the  opening  of  the  next  year.  He  joined  the  Reformed 
Mission  in  July  1875. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


39 


the  school.  In  the  spring-  of  that  year  Mrs.  Miller  -was 
ordered  by  her  physician  to  return  to  America,  and  so  re- 
signed her  connection  with  the  school,  leaving  it  in 
charge  of  Miss  Whitbeck.  She  was  not,  however,  very 
long  alone,  for  the  Misses  Farrington,  who  had  been  sent 
out  to  Nagasaki,  had  to  leave  there  on  account  of  ill- 
health,  and  stopped  in  Yokohama,  hoping  that  they 
would  be  able  to  assist  in  the  Seminary,  but,  to  their 
disappointment,  the  next  year  they  were  compelled  to 
return  home  permanently. 

Miss  H.  L.  Winn  joined  the  mission  in  1873,  and  at  first 
helped  her  uncle.  Dr.  Brown,  to  teach  his  classes  of  boys; 
but  upon  the  return  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  to  America 
in  1879,  she  also  came  to  assist  in  the  Seminary,  where 
she  remained  until  her  marriage  in  1887. 

In  1881  Miss  Witbeck  returned  to  America,  and  the  Rev. 
Eugene  S.  Booth  and  his  wife,  who  had  come  from  Na- 
gasaki in  quest  of  health,  were  put  in  charge  of  the 
Seminary,  and,  excepting  the  time  of  two  furloughs 
home,  in  1886-7  and  1896-97,  have  been  at  its  head  ever 
since.  The  position  which  the  school  holds  today  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Japanese  is  due  in  a large  measure  to  their 
labors. 

Soon  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Booth’s  advent  there  was  a 
great  impetus  felt  all  over  Japan  in  the  education  of 
women,  and  following  this  a large  influx  of  pupils  to  the 
Seminary,  as  to  similar  schools,  so  that  the  accommoda- 
tions for  the  scholars  were  found  to  be  too  cramped,  and 
representation  being  made  to  the  Board,  the  Woman’s 
Board  appropriated  .$2,500  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
school.  These  funds  were  supplemented,  without  solici- 
tation, to  the  a 'It  of  about  $800,  by  foreign  mer- 
chants and  others  residing  in  Yokohama,  to  whom  it  had 
become  known  that  the  amount  available  was  insuffi- 
cient, owing  to  the  appreciation  in  value  of  the  local  cur- 
rency during  the  building  of  the  addition.  The  enlarge- 
ment was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1883. 

Miss  Carrie  E.  Ballagh  joined  the  mission  in  June, 
1888,  and  taught  in  the  Boys’  Schol,  Senshi  Gakko,  and 
Ferris  Seminary  till  her  marriage,  Aprii  8,  1885,  to  Fran- 
cis W.  Harrell,  M.  D.,  of  the  Episcopal  Mission. 

Miss  M.  Leila  Winn  came  out  to  the  Seminary  in  1882, 


40 


The  North  JAPi^N  Mission. 


aiid  remained  there  till  her  furlough  in  1890.  After  her 
return  to  Japan  she  engaged  in  evangelistic  work,  at  first 
in  Morioka  and  later  in  Aomori. 

Miss  Anna  H.  Ballagh  also  taught  in  the  Ferris  Sem- 
inary from  1884  to  1887,  when  she  married  the  Rev.  R.  E. 
McAlpine  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Mission. 

During  these  years  schools  for  girls  were  building  all 
over  the  land,  for  it  had  become  a sort  of  fashion  to  be 
interested  in  the  education  of  women.  The  number  of 
pupils  in  Ferris  Seminary  rapidly  increased,  and  many 
applications  had  to  be  refused  on  account  of  want  of 
room  ; so  much  so  that  hopes  were  entertained  that  were 
the  accommodations  of  the  Seminary  made  commodious 
enough,  the  income  from  tuition  and  other  fees  would  be 
sufficient  to  meet  all  expenses  but  the  outlay  for  the 
salaries  of  the  missionaries  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
property. 


In  1866  Mr.  Booth  and 
his  family  went  to  Amer- 
ica, and  while  at  home  he 
exerted  himself  to  raise 
money  for  the  Seminary. 
His  efforts  were  so  far 
successful  that  on  his  re- 
turn, in  1887,  the  mission 
was  able  to  purchase  the 
lot  on  which  the  school 
stood  and  the  adjoin- 
ing one  for  the  sum  of 
$3,000.  The  original  lot 
had  been  given  by  the 
government  for  the  pur- 
)ses  of  the  school,  but  as 
some  objections  had  been 
raised  to  such  a gift  to  a 


REV.  EUGENE  S.  BOOTH. 


private  establishment,  and  as  it  was  thought  better  for 
the  mission  to  hold  the  property  on  the  same  footing  as  all 
land  was  held  in  Yokohama,  and  the  authorities  them- 
selves suggested  the  purchase  at  the  nominal  upset  price 
as  the  best  solution  o fthe  difficulty,  this  was  done  and 
the  deed  made  out  in  the  name  of  the  Revs.  Messrs. 
Miller  and  Booth,  as  trustees  for  the  Board. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


41 


Although  there  were  now  more  pupils  than  ever  before, 
and  they  remained  longer  In  school,  yet  because  the 
studies  pursued,  aside  from  the  prescribed  Scripture  les- 
sons and  English,  were  chiefly  elective,  and  dependent 
somewhat  upon  the  ability  of  the  Japanese  teachers  of 
the  different  branches,  there  were  but  three  pupils 
graduated  during  these  years. 

The  Ferris  Seminary,  in  common  with  other  mission 
schools,  has  been  severely  criticized  by  the  Japanese, 
chiefly  because,  it  was  said,  such  schools  educated  the 
girls  so  as  to  unfit  them  for  the  lives  they  had  to  lead 
among  thtir  countrymen.  The  time  of  these  anti-foreign 
criticisms  has  passed,  and  the  Japanese  Christians,  as 
well  as  others  of  their  countrymen,  are  begin»ing  to  ap- 
preciate, as  they  have  not  before,  the  good  that  these 
mission  schools  are  doing  for  their  countrywomen. 

At  the  opening  of  the  school  in  September,  1887,  a de- 
finite curriculum  was  made  out  by  which  the  scholars 
could  be  graded  and  their  standing  ascertained  accord- 
ingly. In  consequence  of  this  the  school  lost  about  forty 
pupils.  But  even  then  there  were  more  scholars  than 
could  be  accommodated,  and  a temporary  annex,  in  the 
form  of  a cheap  Japanese  house,  had  to  be  built,  where 
twenty-five  pupils  with  a Japanese  teacher — all  volun- 
teers— spent  the  winter.  The  faculty  was  augmented  at 
this  time  by  the  addition  of  several  teachers,  most  of 
whom  were  graduates  of  the  school. 

Miss  Anna  De  F.  Thompson  came  out  in  1887,  and  has 
been  connected  with  the  Seminary  ever  since. 

Miss  Mary  Deyo  came  out  in  1888,  and  remained  in 
Ferris  Seminary  till  her  furlough  in  1894.  Upon  her  re- 
turn to  Japan  in  1895  she  went  into  evangelistic  work  in 
the  town  of  Ueda,  Shinshu. 

Miss  Mary  E.  Brokaw,  who  came  first  to  Japan  in 
1884  to  join  the  mission  in  Nagasaki,  was  transferred  to 
Yokohama  in  1890,  and  taught  for  a while  in  Ferris  Sem- 
inary. In  1894  she  went  to  Ueda  to  engage  in  evangelis- 
tic work,  and  was  joined  the  next  year  by  Miss  Deyo. 
Miss  Brokaw  remained  in  Ueda  till  her  return  to  Ameri- 
ca in  1898.  She  came  back  to  Japan  and  was  married  to 
the  Rev.  Wm.  Tates  Jones  of  the  East  Japan  Mission  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1899. 


42  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

Miss  Julia  Moulton  began  teaching  in  the  Ferris  Sem- 
inary in  November,  1888,  and  joined  the  mission  in  1889. 
She  has  been  connected  with  the  Seminary  ever  since. 

Miss  Harriet  Wyckoff  joined  the  mission  in  Septem- 
ber, 1898,  and  has  taught  in  Ferris  Seminary  since  except 
from  October,  1899,  to  March,  1900,  during  which  time  she 
was  with  Miss  Deyo  in  Ueda. 

A large  addition  to  the  Seminary  was  made  by  the 
erection  in  1889  of  Van  Schaick  Hall,  which  was  formally 
opened  on  June  1st.  It  cost  $15,000,  of  which  more  than 
$1,000  were  contributed  by  Japanese.  It  is  named  after 
Miss  Jane  C.  Van  Schaick  of  Albany,  New  York,  who 
contributed  largely  towards  its  erection.  This  building 
comprises  on  the  first  floor  the  principal’s  office,  four 
class  rooms,  a reception  room,  Japanese  headmaster’s 
office,  and  the  school  physician’s  dispensary  ; in  the 
secand  story,  a chapel  or  audience  room,  with  a seating 
capacity  for  about  300,  two  rooms  for  foreign  teachers, 
and  a dormitory  of  twenty  rooms  for  the  girls  ; in  a high 
basement  is  a spacious  dining  hall,  kitchen,  and  lava- 
tories, while  the  whole  upper  floor  is  open  for  calis- 
thenics and  play. 

From  the  central  position  occupied  by  the  school  on  the 
Bluff,  where  most  of  the  foreign  residents  live,  the 
chapel  is  in  great  - and  for  all  kinds  of  public  meet- 
ings. The  mid-week  and  Sunday  evening  prayer  meet- 
ings of  the  Union  Church,  the  meetings  of  the  literary 
and  musical  societies,  and  other  occasional  gatherings 
bring  in  an  income  of  several  hundred  yen,  which  goes 
towards  the  maintenance  of  the  building. 

The  Seminary  had  thus  been  substantially  enlarged  on 
account  of  the  increasing  demand  for  accommodations  of 
would-be  pupils  and  yet  before  its  final  completion  there 
was  a revulsion  in  the  mind  of  the  people  against  for- 
eigners in  general,  and  so  against  schools  carried  on  by 
them.  And,  furthermore,  the  higher  education  of  women 
was  not  so  much  the  fashion  as  it  had  been,  so  that  there 
was  a falling  off  in  the  number  of  pupils  and  applicants 
for  admission.  This  antagonism  to  foreign  influence  was 
felt  in  all  similar  schools  throughout  the  country.  But 
now  a reaction  against  this  state  of  feeling  is  appearing, 
and,  what  is  much  better,  the  Japanese  are  beginning  to 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


43 


realize  that  the  education  of  the  girls  of  the  empire  is 
something  so  important  that  it  cannot  be  carried  on  by 
fits  and  starts,  but  must  be  pursued  systematically,  and, 
furthermore,  that  the  government  accommodation  for 
the  education  of  girls  is  entirely  inadequate  for  the  needs 
of  the  country.  According  to  the  latest  official  statistics, 
those  to  the  close  of  the  year  1897,  the  number  of  girls 
attending  schools  of  various  kinds  throughout  the  coun- 
try is  as  follows  : 


a 

9^ 

OQ 

1X2 

CQ 

'■^'6 

W — 

'9’o 

« — 

go 

- ^ 

P ^ 

G O 

PG 

« s- 

> 

occ 

O 

Dm  <•> 

Primary  Schools 

2 

400 

23,361 

1,393,698 

497 

29,850 

Common  Middle  Schools 

3 

359 

Common  Normal  Schools 

47 

810 

Higher  Normal  Schools 

Colleges,  etc 

2 

208 

181 

1,652 

65 

1,058 

Higher  Girls’  School 

i 

393 

19 

4,708 

6 

1,698 

Miscellaneous  Schools 

1 

50 

17 

951 

1,082 

17,521 

Total 

7 

1,010 

204 

8,121 

1,153 

20,270 

Grand  Total,  including 
Primary  Schools 

9 

1,410 

26,625 

1,410,819 

1,650 

50  127 

Mission  schools  are  not  included  in  this  list,  unless  it 
may  happen  that  some  of  them  at  that  date  were  re- 
ported as  having  received  a government  license. 

The  age  for  primary  scholars  is  from  6 to  14,  and  the 
number  of  girls  of  this  age  throughout  the  empire  was 
3,976,159, 

while  the  number  of  girls  between  the  ages  of  11  and  20, 
that  is,  those  of  the  age  to  attend  the  Ferris  Seminary 
was 

4,274,848. 

The  number  of  foreign  teachers  in  the  Ferris  Seminary 
has  varied  from  one  to  five,  reaching  the  maximum  in. 
the  years  1889-1893.  That  of  the  Japanese  teachers  has 
varied  frorn  two  to  twelve,  reaching  its  maximum  in 
the  years  1892-1895. 

The  foreign  teachers  at  present  are  the  Rev.  E.  S. 
Booth,  Miss  Anna  De  P.  Thompson,  Miss  Julia  Moul- 


44 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


ton,  and  Miss  Harriet  Wyckoffi  ; of  whom  Miss  Moulton 
devotes  most  of  her  time  to  teaching'  music,  vocal  and  in- 
strumental, an  important  work  in  view  of  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  country,  since  intelligent  leaders  of  devo- 
tional music  are  needed  everywhere.  There  are  four 
Japanese  teachers  and  three  assistant  teachers  in  draw- 
ing, sewing,  &c.,  and  the  Japanese  Matron  who,  under 
Mrs.  Booth,  looks  after  the  girl’s  deportment,  visits 
their  homes  if  necessary,  and  receives  all  callers  and  in- 
quirers. 

The  number  of  pupils  who  have  entered  the  Seminary 
is  five  hundred  and  fifty,  their  ages  ranging  from  six  to 
eighteeen  years,  coming  mostly  from  the  middle  and 
upper  classes  of  society,  and  representing  nearly  every 
province  in  the  empire. 

There  have  been  72  graduates,  of  whom  7 have  died  ; 
8 are  teaching  in  Mission  Schools  ; 8 are  engaged  in  work 
under  the  direction  of  missionaries  ; 1 is  in  the  Bible 
Course  ; and  6 are  otherwise  employed  ; one  who  has 
not  graduated  is  also  working  for  the  Salvation  Army. 
The  present  number  of  pupils  is  54,  of  whom  24  are 
Christians,  and  nearly  all  the  graduates  without  excep- 
tion were  either  baptized,  or  would  have  been  so  could 
they  have  obtained  the  consent  of  their  parents. 

The  first  pupil  from  the  Academic  Course  (di.3Continued 
in  1897)  graduated  in  1882.  She  was  Kashi  Shimada, 
whose  name  is  familiar  to  a large  circle  of  friends  in 
America.  She  died  February  10,  1896,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
ty-three. She  taught  in  the  school  for  seven  years. 
After  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Iwamoto  she  was  active  in 
literary  work  as  far  as  her  family  duties  and  health 
would  permit.  The  second  class  of  two  pupils  graduated 
in  1884  ; the  third  class  did  not  graduate  till  1889.  In  1890 
the  first  class  was  graduated  from  the  Grammar  Course. 

The  Ferris  Seminary  is  at  present  divided  into  three 
departments  or  courses; — the  Preparatory,  Grammar,  and 
Bible  Courses. 

1.  The  Preparatory  Course  is  for  four  years,  to  which 
girls  of  11  years  of  age  and  over  are  admitted. 

2.  The  Grammar  Course  is  for  four  years;  the  studies 
are  in  both  Japanese  and  English,  and  the  grade  at- 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


45 


tained  is  nearly  equivalent  to  that  of  the  grammar  de- 
partment in  the  public  schools  in  America. 

3 The  Bible  Course  is  for  two  years,  and  is  especially 
designed  for  those  who  expect  to  teach,  or  to  engage  in 
evangelistic  work.  It  includes  a Normal  Course  in  Bible 
study,  a chronological  study  of  the  whole  Bible,  and  also 
practical  illustrations  of  the  method  of  studying  the  Bible 
by  books  and  topics. 

In  the  studies  pursued  and  the  instruction  given  no  at- 
tempt is  made  to  supply  the  Japanese  women  with  a 
“ higher  education  ” in  the  sense  in  which  that  term  is 
appropriately  used  in  Western  lands.  The  aim  of  the 
school  is  to  combine  the  Christian  home  influence  with 
good  practical  education,  adapted  to  the  necessities  of 
awakened  .lapan.  To  attain  this  end,  not  only  are  the 
ordinary  intellectual  branches  taught,  and  facility  to  read 
and  write  both  Japanese  and  English  cultivated,  but  care- 
ful attention  is  paid  to  the  development  and  culture  of 
the  physical  nature  as  well. 

The  school,  however,  pays  particular  attention  to  the 
development  and  upbuilding  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
nature.  Christian  Ethics  and  the  Word  of  God  are  made 
subjects  of  daily  class  study.  The  object  is  to  produce  an 
all-round  Christian  character,  and  relying  on  the  graci- 
ous co-operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  success  of  the 
past  will  be  an  earnest  of  the  years  to  come. 


II.  MAIJI  GAKUIN. 

The  Meiji  Gakuin  is  a school  for  boys  and  young  men 
under  the  auspices  of  the  missions  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  U.  S.  A. 
It  is  situated  on  the  western  edge  of  Tokyo,  about  five 
miles  from  Tsukiji,  the  former  Foreign  Concession,  and 
also  from  the  principal  business  centres,  in  Shirokane  of 
the  Shiba  District. 

According  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin, 
“ The  aim  of  the  institution  is  to  furnish  a thorough 
Christian  education,  and  especially  to  train  young  men 
for  the  ministry,”  and  to  carry  out  this  aim  it  is  divided 
into  two  departments,  the  Academic  and  the  Theological. 


46 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


The  general  government  is  lodged  in  a Board  of  Direc- 
tors, composed  of  seven  foreign  and  seven  Japanese  mem- 
bers, the  election  of  whom  is  provided  for  in  the  foiow- 
ing  manner  : “ the  foreign  members  shall  be  elected  by 
the  co-operating  missions.  The  Japanese  members  shall 
be  communicants  in  good  and  regular  standing  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  Japan  ; and  shall  be  elected  by  the 
Board  of  Directors,  for  a term  of  two  years.”  The  im- 
mediate administration  is  under  the  faculties  of  the  two 
departments,  all  the  professors  of  which  are  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  ; but,  as  a matter  of  fact,  any 
one  designated  by  one  of  the  missions  has  always  been 
appointed  by  the  Board. 

Origin  of  the  Theological  Department. 

The  Meiji  Gakuin  as  it  now  stands  is  a growth,  and  to 
understand  this  growth  we  must  look  back  at  its  history. 
As  early  as  1S70  Dr.  S.  R.  Brown,  on  his  removal  from 
Niigata  to  Yokohama,  started  classes  in  his  own  house, 
where  he  taught  elementary  subjects,  and  later  theologi- 
cal studies.  In  this  teaching  he  was  assisted  by  his 
daughter,  as  well  as  by  other  members  of  the  mission. 
These  classes  were  continued  till  1S79,  when  Dr.  Brown 
returned  to  America. 

Union  Theological  School. 

Two  years  before  this,  after  the  formation  of  the  United 
Church  of  Christ  (1877),  the  three  missions  belonging  to 
the  Council  united  in  theological  school  work,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1877  opened  the  Union  Theological  School  in 
Tsukiji,  Tokyo.  Each  mission  appointed  one  of  its  mem- 
bers .a  permanent  teacher  in  the  school,  though  other 
members  of  the  mission  taught  special  branches  as  they 
were  able.  The  permanent  instructors  were  the  Rev. 
S.  G.  McLaren  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Mission,  who 
remained  connected  with  the  school  until  he  left  Japan  ; 
the  Rev.  Jas.  L.  Amerman  of  the  Reformed  Mission,  who 
also  was  connected  with  it  till  he  returned  permanently  to 
America  in  1892  ; and  the  Rev.  William  Imbrie  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission  U.  S.  A. 

Origin  of  the  Academic  Department. 

The  Presbyterian  Mission  had  a.  flourishing  school  for 
boys  in  Yokohama  under  the  care  of  Mr.  John  C.  Bal- 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


47 


lagh.  .This  was  removed  to  Tokyo  in  1880,  and  its  name 
changed  to  the  Tsukiji  College  (Tsuklji  Dai  Gakko). 

Mr.  Martin  N.  Wyckoff  came  out  under  the  Reformed 
Mission  in  1881,  and  in  the  same  year  organized  a school 
in  Yokohama  known  as  the  Seishi  Gakko  ; this  was  well 
sustained  and  successful.  In  1883  it  was  removed  to 
Tokyo  and  united  with  the  Tsukiji  College  of  the  Presby- 
terian Mission,  the  two  becoming  the  Union  College. 

In  1886  the  Meiji  Gakuin 
was  organized,  in  which 
the  Union  College  became 
the  Academic  Department, 
and  the  Union  Theologi- 
cal School,  the  Theologi- 
cal Department.  And  the 
next  year  the  brick  build- 
ing No.  17  Tsukiji  was 
erected  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  Union  Theo- 
logical School,  and  the 
Theological  Department  of 
the  Meiji  Gakuin  contin- 
ued to  use  it  even  after 
the  Academic  Department 
was  removed  from  the 
Union  College  to  Shiro- 
kane  (1887),  until  1899,  at  which  time  the  new  Theological 
Hall  was  erected  on  the  grounds  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin. 

In  1887  Sandham  and  Hepburn  Halls  were  built  on  the 
newly  acquired  grounds  at  Shirokane,  in  the  Shiba  Dis- 
trict of  Tokyo,  and  the  Academic  Department  opened  its 
full  term  there.  Sandham  Hall,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  S.  A. 
Sandham  of  New  York  City,  contains  eight  class  rooms, 
besides  offices  and  a large  room  used  for  chapel  and 
Commencement  exercises  capable  of  holding  nearly  300 
people.  Hepburn  Hall,  built  chiefly  through  the  liberal- 
ity of  Dr.  Hepburn,  Is  a dormitory  for  students,  and  con- 
tains 60  rooms  for  120  or  more  boarders. 

Harris  Hall  was  built  in  1888  by  the  Messrs.  Harris  of 
Philadelphia,  the  materials  used  being  those  of  the  Union 
College  building  in  Tsukiji.  This  serves  as  a dormitory 
for  the  theological  students,  and  has  been  for  some  years 


MARTIN  N.  WYCKOFF,  SC.D. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


also  the  residence  of  Mr.  Kumano,  who  as  Kanji  has  the 
immediate  supervision  of  the  students. 

There  are  four  dwellling  houses  for  the  teachers.  One 
was  built  by  Dr.  Hepburn,  and  the  other  three  by  the 
Presbyterian  Mission,  and  if  one  of  them  is  occupied  by  a 
member  of  another  mission  the  rent  received  is  used  for 
the  maintenance  of  scholarships  and  other  school  ex- 
penses. 

After  the  new  Theological  Hall  was  built  the  library 
was  re-organized,  and  those  of  the  two  Departments  were 
united.  The  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  Missions  had 
made  annual  grants  towards  the  library  fund  for  some 
years,  and  Dr.  Chas.  K.  Imbrie  of  Jersey  City  presented 
his  library  of  700  volumes,  so  that  at  present  there  is  a 
large  and  well  selected  library  of  about  8,000  volumes, 
housed  in  a convenient  room  built  for  the  purpose  in  the 
Theological  Hall. 

The  property  given  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  R.  Miller  in 
1888  for  the  erection  of  a chapel  for  the  Meiji  Gakuin  was 
sold  in  1898.  The  whole  sum  realized  from  the  sale,  with' 
accrued  rent  and  interest,  was  Yen  13,633.08.  As  neither 
at  that  time  nor  previously  was  there  any  need  of  a 
chapel  for  the  students,  beyond  the  present  large  audi- 
ence room  in  Sandham  Hall,  the  funds  were,  with  the 
full  consent  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Meiji  Ga- 
kuin, given  in  trust  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  R.  C.  A.,  to  be  used  by  it  for  the  original  purpose, 
should  it  be  so  needed,  or  failing  that,  in  some  other  way 
as  directed  by  the  donors,  or  if  not  so  directed,  as  the 
Board  see  fit  to  use  it. 

History. 

Since  the  organization  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin  there  have 
been  changes  of  all  kinds,  in  the  personnel  of  the  in- 
structors and  the  classes,  curricula,  et  cetera,  of  both  De- 
partments, of  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  de- 
tail.Among  them  the  following  may  be  noted  : 

At  one  time  the  Preparatory  Classes  to  the  Academic 
Department  were  established  in  Kanda,  the  student  quar- 
ter of  the  city.  But  the  advantages  which  were  hoped 
to  accrue  from  this  move — especially  a large  increase  in 
the  students  of  the  main  course — did  not  take  place,  and 
after  a trial  of  five  years  the  plan  was  given  up. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


49 


In  the  Theological  Department,  in  1889,  an  innovation 
was  introduced  when  it  was  seen  that  there  was  a large 
class  of  men  who  were  too  old  to  take  a long  course  in 
theology  and  so  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  office  of 
ministers  of  the  gospel  ; but  who  ,it  was  thought,  could 
do  good  work  in  the  churches  if  they  had  a course  special- 
ly suited  to  their  wants  and  abilities  and  the  time  at 
their  disposal.  At  the  suggestion  of  some  of  the  Japan- 
ese ministers,  the  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  Missions 
established  such  a class,  using  the  building  in  Tsukiji, 
which  had  been  vacated  by  the  removal  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Department  to  Shirokane,  for  the  purposes  of  instruc- 
tion. There  were  over  70  applicants  for  admission  ; but 
as  so  many  could  not  be  accommodated  some  30  were 
selected. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  this  class  of  evangelists 
was  not  intended  as  a rule  to  enter  the  regular  ministry. 
It  was  hoped  rather  that  the  majority  of  them,  while 
better  prepared  for  efficient  Christian  work,  would  not 
abandon  their  former  callings. 

The  class  began  with  bright  prospects  and  was  con- 
tinued for  several  years,  but  was  finally  discontinued  for 
want  of  material.  A very  small  proportion  of  the  men 
proved  to  be  efficient  workers,  and  the  experiment  was  a 
disappointment. 

In  1891  Dr.  Hepburn  resigned  his  position  as  Pr3sident, 
which  he  had  held  since  1887,  and  in  his  place  the  Rev. 
Kajinosuke  Ibuka  was  elected  to  the  post,  which  he  has 
filled  so  well  and  so  acceptably  ever  since.  The  next 
year  the  institution  lost  the  services  of  Dr.  Amerman, 
who  had  been  so  closely  connected  with  it  and  had  done 
so  much  for  it  from  the  beginning.  He  has  left  a record 
in  the  number  of  works  translated  into  Japanese,  chiefly 
the  results  of  his  lectures  on  Systematic  Theology.  In 
the  same  year  Dr.  Knox,  who  also  had  done  efficient 
work  as  a teacher,  retired  to  return  to  America.  The 
Meiji  Gakuin  lost  severely  in  the  deaths  of  Prof.  Ishi- 
moto,  who  was  studying  in  America  when  he  died,  and 
of  Dr.  J.  C.  McCauley  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  note  that  from  the  time  when  Dr. 
Amerman  left  in  1892  until  Dr.  Poppen  came  to  Japan  in 
1896  there  was  no  regular  professor  in  the  Theological 


50  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

Department  from  our  mission,  though  Dr.  Verbeck  and 
Mr.  Miller  taught  to  supply  the  deficiency  ; and  since  the 
departure  of  Dr.  Poppen  for  America  in  1898,  our  mission 
has  had  no  representative  in  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment at  all. 

We  hope  from  negotir  lions  now  pending  that  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Mission  may  be  able  to  send  one 
of  its  members  to  occupy  a chair  in  the  Faculty,  and  so 
help  to  increase  the  power  of  the  institution  for  good. 

For  some  years  the  general  idea  has  been  to  conform 
the  curriculum  of  the  Academic  Department  as  far  as 
possible  to  that  of  the  government  Common  Middle 
Schools,  so  that  the  gr.aduates  could  enter  the  Higher 
Middle  Schools,  and  so  advance  to  the  University. 

From  time  to  time  the  number  of  students  in  both  the 
Departments  has  fluctuated.  At  one  time  everything  for- 
eign was  regarded  with  favor,  and  schools  where  English 
was  taught  by  foreigners  were  in  special  esteem.  The 
year  1890  was  the  most  flourishing  in  the  history  of  the 
Theological  Department.  There  were  19  graduates,  and  19 
men  entered  the  Junior  Clas.  But  in  1897  the  number  of 
students  in  both  the  Academic  and  Theological  Depart- 
ments fell  away  in  a marked  degree.  The  chief  cause 
operating  in  the  Academic  Department  was  the  existence 
of  a general  anti-foreign  and  anti-Christian  feeling  ac- 
companied by  improvement  in  the  government  schools. 
In  the  Theological  Departm.ent  several  causes  combined 
to  reduce  the  number  of  students.  A smaller  number  of 
converts  than  previously  among  the  young  men  ; a 
change  in  the  evangelistic  spirit  in  the  churches  ; increas- 
ing opportunities  for  entering  secular  callings  of  various 
kinds  in  which  relatively  high  salaries  could  be  obtained  ; 
and  the  adoption  of  a polic”  to  employ  fewer  workers  ; 
so  adding  to  the  uncertainty  of  employmcni  after  gradu- 
al ion.  The  number  of  students  in  the  Academic  Depart- 
ment is  now  rising  again,  and  the  outlook  is  more  pro- 
mising than  it  has  been  for  several  years  ; and  Vv'hile  the 
number  of  students  in  the  Theological  Department  is 
now  smaller  than  ever  before,  there  never  was  a time 
when  the  need  of  trained  workers  was  so  keenly  felt  and 
expressed  by  the  missions.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  very 
need  will  in  various  ways  load  to  a supply. 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


51 


Within  late  years  several  students  in  the  higher  clas- 
ses have  come  from  Japanese  schools,  which  has  given  an 
opportunity  to  compare  the  students  of  these  schools  with 
those  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin,  and  with  the  following  re- 
sult : — In  scholarship  the  students  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin 
compare  favorably  with  the  new  comers.  In  English 
they  are  nearly  always  superior,  though  in  mathematics 
and  other  subjects  t.aught  exclusively  in  Japanese  they 
in  some  instances  fall  behind.  In  punctuality  and  con- 
duct generally  the  contrast  is  manifest.  Those  who  have 
been  several  years  in  school  seem  like  a different  kind 
of  boy  from  their  classmates.  This  may  be  due  in  part 
to  the  fact  that  they  come  from  Christian  homes,  but 
large  credit  is  also  due  to  the  school  training. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  the  class 
of  students  who  are  coming  to  the  school  is  more  and 
more  largely  from  a Christian  constituency.  And  this  is 
as  it  should  be.  One  of  the  great  objects  of  the  founders 
was  to  provide  a school  where  Christian  parents  could 
send  their  boys,  knowing  that  they  would  be  under  re- 
ligious influence,  and  where,  too,  their  companions  would 
bo  in  a large  measure  those  whom  they  would  choose  for 
their  sons.  For  it  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  for  a moment 
that  the  tendency  of  the  government  schools  is  not  only 
un-Christian,  but  directly  anti-Christian  ; and  on  the 
other  hand  that  the  school  exercises  a decidedly  Christian 
influence  on  all  the  students,  so  much  so  that  there  is  a 
large  per  cent,  of  the  scholars  who  profess  Christianity 
while  in  school. 

Purpose. 

The  purpose  of  the  Academic  Department  is  to  give  a 
Christian  education,  that  is,  to  give  as  good  a general 
education  as  is  posible  within  the  limits  of  the  institu- 
tion ; and  at  the  same  time  to  give  instruction  in  the 
truths  of  Christianity,  and  endeavor  to  build  up  Chris- 
tian character.  In  pursuance  of  this  the  Bible  is  in  the 
regular  currriculum,  and  there  are  religious  meetings 
held  by  the  teachers  with  the  students,  and  also  by  the 
students  among  themselves.  A T.  M.  C.  A.  is  formed 
among  the  young  men,  and  some  of  them  help  in  teaching 
in  Sunday  schools  in  the  neighbourhood.  At  one  time 
there  was  a church  organized  by  the  Classis  of  the  Chris- 


THEOLOGICAL  DEPARTMENT  AND  LIIiRARY,  MEIJI  GAKUIN,  TOKYO. 


53 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 

tian  members  of  the  institution.  But  this  was  afterwards 
disbanded,  and  now  those  who  become  Christians  while 
in  school  generally  join  a church  in  the  immediate 
vicinity. 

The  course  of  instruction  in  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment includes  at  present  the  following  subjects  : — Old 
Testament  Introduction,  History,  and  Theology  ; New 
Testament  Introduction  and  Theology,  the  Life  of  Christ, 
and  Exegesis  of  the  Epistles  ; Reading  in  English,  Gen- 
eral History,  History  of  the  Church  and  History  of  Doc- 
trine ; Church  Polity,  Homiletics,  Ethics,  Apologetics, 
Philosophy  of  Religion,  and  Systematic  Theology.  A 
course  of  lectures  on  Pastoral  Theology  is  generally  de- 
livered by  one  of  the  Japanese  pastors  in  the  city  or 
neighbourhood. 

All  the  students  are  during  the  term  engaged  in  religi- 
ous work  among  the  different  churches  or  Sunday  schools 
of  the  city  ; some  of  them  regularly  supply  preaching  sta- 
tions in  and  around  the  city. 

There  have  been  143  giaduates  from  the  Meiji  Gakuin 
Theological  Department,  including  those  of  the  Hnion 
Theological  School.  Of  these  78  are  now  in  the  service  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,  and  12  in  that  of  other 
evangelical  churches.  Eight  (4  of  whom  are  included  in 
the  78)  are  teachers  in  Christian  schools.  Eleven  are 
teachers  in  government  or  other  schools.  Eleven  have 
died  : 15  are  in  other  callings  ; of  12  the  Meiji  Gakuin 
lias  no  knowledge. 

Before  closing  this  account  of  the  Meiji  Gakuin  there 
are  two  subjects  which  ought  to  be  alluded  to,  on  account 
of  the  relation  they  bear  to  the  cause  of  education  in 
general  and  to  Christian  schools  in  particular.  The  first 
of  these  is  the  Rescript  of  the  Emperor  on  the  subject  of 
Education,  issued  in  1893.  This  document  in  itself  is  not 
remarkable,  and  contains  no  reference  to  religion.  In 
any  other  country  it  would  have  been  commended  when 
first  promulgated,  and  then  allowed  to  drop  into  forget- 
fulness ; but  in  Japan  it  has  been  raised  into  a fetish. 
Although  doubtless  there  was  no  such  design  on  the  part 
of  the  Emperor  when  he  signed  it,  it  has  been  made  by 
the  Department  of  Education  the  basis  of  all  moral  in- 
struction throughout  the  schools  of  the  empire  ; and  at 


54 


The  North  Japan  Mission. 


least  once  a year  all  the  scholars  are  assembled  in  their 
various  schoools  and  made  to  listen  to  the  formal  readin.i; 
of  the  document,  and  then  bow  before  the  pictures  of 
Their  Majesties  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  In  some 
schools,  in  the  Hokkaido  for  instance,  these  portraits  of 
Their  Majesties  are  kept  in  a shrine  built  for  the  pur- 
pose, which  in  shape,  position,  et  cetera,  is  like  any  idol 
shrine.  A professor  lost  his  position  for  daring  to  criti- 
cise the  style  in  which  the  document  was  written  ; and 
teachers  have  lost  their  positions  for  refusing  to  bow  be- 
fore the  portraits,  because  they  as  Christians  held  that 
such  bowing  would  be  religious  worship. 

The  other  subject  worth  mentioning  is  the  issuance  of 
an  Instruction  by  the  Minister  of  Education,  in  reference 
to  an  Imperial  Ordinance.  Before  going  into  this  matter 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  seems  to  set  at  rest  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  bowing  before  the  portraits 
of  Their  Majesties  is  religious  worship  or  mere  homage. 
It  decides  definitely  for  the  latter,  because  the  Instruc- 
tion says,  “ religious  instruction  must  not  be  given,  or 
religious  ceremonies  be  performed  at  Government 
Schools,  Public  Schools,”  etc. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  August,  1899,  the  day  before  the 
French  and  Austrian  Treaties  went  into  operation  (the 
other  treaties  having  gone  into  operation  on  the  17th  of 
July),  the  Minister  of  State  for  Education,  Count  Kaba- 
yama,  issued  over  his  si  -nature  the  following  Instruc- 
tion (12). 

“ It  being  essential  from  the  point  of  view  of  educa- 
tional administration,  that  general  education  should  be 
independent  of  religion,  religious  instruction  must  not  be 
given,  or  religious  ceremonies  be  performed,  at  Govern- 
ment Schools,  Public  Schools,  or  schools  whose  curricula 
are  regulated  by  provisions  of  law,  even  outside  the  regu- 
lar course  of  instruction.” 

On  the  16th  of  the  month  representatives  from  six 
Christian  schools — Aoyama  Gakuin,  Azabu  Eiwa  Gakko, 
Doshisha,  Rikkyo  Chu  Gakko,  Meiji  Gakuin,  and  Nagoya 
Eiwa  Gakko— met  in  Tokyo  to  consider  what  steps  ought 
to  be  taken  by  them  in  reference  to  this  Instruction. 

Resolutions  were  passed  declaring  that  they  would  for- 
feit their  licensed  privileges  rather  than  give  up  their 


The  Nori  h Japan  Mission. 


55 


Christianity,  and  at  the  same  time  a representative  com- 
mittee was  formed  who  were  to  see  the  Minister  of  Edu- 
cation and  see  if  relief  could  not  be  obtained  from  the 
action  of  the  Instruction. 

This  committee  subsequently  had  interviews  with  the 
Minister,  Vice-Minister,  and  Counsellor  of  the  Depart- 
ment ; but  the  relief  desired  was  not  obtained.  The  only 
concession  was  that  schools  might  hold  religious  exer- 
cises out  of  school  hours,  if  such  exercises  were  con- 
ducted by  the  individual  teachers  as  individuals,  and  not 
by  the  schools  as  schools. 

The  action  of  this  committee  was  afterwards  confirmed 
by  a Conference  on  Educational  Matters  gathered  in  Tok- 
yo of  the  missionaries  from  all  over  Japan.  Many  inter- 
esting things  were  elicited  at  this  time,  and  the  Con- 
vention cordially  requested  the  Committee  to  continue  to 
act  as  the  representative  of  the  Convention. 

The  matter  stands  as  follows  ; In  one  case  a 
Mission  School  has  retained  its  place  in  the  gov- 
ernment system  and  thereby  submitted  to  the  res- 
trictions of  the  Instruction.  In  another  case  a school 
has  submitted  to  the  restrictions,  but  in  conse- 
quence the  Mission  previously  connected  with  it  has 
severed  this  connection.  In  all  other  cases,  including  the 
Meiji  Gakuin,  the  schools  have  given  up  their  connection 
with  the  government  system  for  the  sake  of  the  principle 
involved  ; and  it  now  seems  likely  that  the  government 
will  make  a special  announcement  which  will  indirectly 
restore  to  them  the  privilege  desired. 

Literary  Work. 

Dr.  S.  R.  Brown  : Translation  and  Revision  of  the  New 
Testament;  A Grammar,  and  a Phrase  Book  on  the  Mas- 
tery System. 

Dr.  Verbeck  : Translation  and  Revision  of  the  Old 
Testament,  especially  the  Psalms  ; A Synopsis  of  all  the 
Conjugations  of  the  Japanese  Verbs,  a most  valuable 
book,  which  is  not  at  all  appreciated  by  beginners. 
Tracts  : “Christianity  will  never  become  a useless  thing,” 
“ Worship  of  God,”  “ Misunderstandings  about  Chris- 
tianity Corrected,”  etc. 


f6  The  North  Japan  Mission. 

Dr.  Amerman  : The  Theology  of  the  New  Testament  ; 
Theism;  The  Attributes  of  God  and  the  Trinity  ; The 
Divine  Decrees  ; Anthropology  ; The  Creation  of  the 
World;  Soteriology;  Church  Government;  The  Gospel  of 
Mark  in  Colloquial.  All  in  collaboration  with  the  Rev. 
K.  Ibuka,  M.  A. 

Mr.  Miller  ; With  Dr.  Brown  the  translation  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  later  the  revision  of  the 
same;  Reformed  Church  Liturgy.  From  Jan.  1S97  to  July 
1898,  edited  and  published  the  translation  of  the  Inter- 
national Bible  Lessons. 

Mrs.  Miller:  From  1882  edited  the  “Glad  Tidings,”  a 
semi-monthly  with  an  edition  of  3,100,  and  the  “ Little 
Tidings  ” since  1894,  which  has  an  edition  of  4,300. 

Dr.  Wtckoff  ; “ Beginners  Composition  and  Phrase 
Book.” 

Mr.  Scudder:  Work  on  the  Sunday  School  Lessons. 

LIST  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


Went  out.  Retired. 


Rev.  S.  R.  Brown,  D.  D.*  and 
Brown*  

Mrs. 

1859 

1879* 

D.  B.  Simmons,  M.  D.*  and 
Simmons  

Mrs. 

1859 

1860 

Miss  C.  Adriance* 

1859 

1860 

Rev.  G.  F.  Verbeck,  D.  D.*  and 
Verbeck  

Mrs. 

1859 

1898 

Rev.  Jas.  H.  Ballagh  and 
Ballagh  

Mrs. 

1861 

Miss  Mary  E.  Kidder  (Mrs.  E.  Rothe- 
say Miller) 

1869 

Rev.  C.  H.  H.  Wolff*  and 
Wolff 

Mrs. 

1871 

1876 

Miss  S.  K.  M.  Hequembourg  ... 

1872 

1874 

Miss  Emma  C.  Witbeck 

1874 

1882 

Rev.  E.  Rothesay  Miller 

1875 

Rev.  J.  L.  Amerman,  D.  D. 
Mrs.  Amerman  

and 

1876 

1893 

Miss  Harriet  L.  Winn 

1878 

1887 

Miss  Elizabeth  F.  Farrington.. 

1878 

1879 

The  North  Japan  Mission. 


57 


Miss  Mamie  J.  Farrington 1878  1879 

Rev.  Eugene  S.  Booth  and  Mrs. 

Booth  1879 

Miss  Carrie  E.  Ballagh 1881  1885 

Prof.  Martin  N.  Wyckoff,  Sc.  D.  and 

Mrs.  Wyckoff  1881 

Miss  Carrie  E.  Ballagh  1881  1885 

Miss  M.  Leila  Winn 1882 

Rev.  Howard  Harris  and  Mrs. 

Harris  1884 

Miss  Mary  E.  Brokaw 1884  1899 

Miss  Anna  DeF.  Thompson 1887 

Miss  Mary  Deyo 1888 

Miss  Julia  Moulton 1888 

Rev.  Jacob  Poppen,  Ph.  D.  and  Mrs. 

Poppen  1896  1898 

Rev.  Frank  S.  Scudder  and  Mrs. 

Scudder 1897 

Mrs.  J.  D.  Schenck 1897 

Miss  Harriet  Wyckoff 1898 

*Deceased. 


